LET'S GET REAL
Genesis 42:9b, 13, 17, 21
"[Joseph] said to them, 'You are spies!" .... And they said, 'Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more." .... So he put them in prison three days. .... Then they said to one another, 'We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.' "
For all these many years, Joseph's brothers had carried their dirty little secret. At first, they just said that they thought Joseph was dead – "one is no more." But three days in jail, not knowing if they would be killed as spies, gave them time to reflect, and their time of trouble finally caused them to admit their sin against Joseph. Trouble can be a wake-up call to do some self-examination to see if my problems are caused by hidden, unconfessed sin. Sometimes it takes distress in my life to cause me to face my own failures. When I finally come to grips with my guilt, then I can get real and admit it, and that opens the door to forgiveness. "But let a man examine himself..." (I Corinthians 11:28).
TODAY'S PRINCIPLE: Trouble can be the impetus to face the past and confess hidden sin and
failures.
[end]
Have a "real" day. Love you.
Genesis 42:9b, 13, 17, 21
"[Joseph] said to them, 'You are spies!" .... And they said, 'Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more." .... So he put them in prison three days. .... Then they said to one another, 'We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.' "
For all these many years, Joseph's brothers had carried their dirty little secret. At first, they just said that they thought Joseph was dead – "one is no more." But three days in jail, not knowing if they would be killed as spies, gave them time to reflect, and their time of trouble finally caused them to admit their sin against Joseph. Trouble can be a wake-up call to do some self-examination to see if my problems are caused by hidden, unconfessed sin. Sometimes it takes distress in my life to cause me to face my own failures. When I finally come to grips with my guilt, then I can get real and admit it, and that opens the door to forgiveness. "But let a man examine himself..." (I Corinthians 11:28).
TODAY'S PRINCIPLE: Trouble can be the impetus to face the past and confess hidden sin and
failures.
[end]
Have a "real" day. Love you.
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