Genesis 42:18–25 (ESV)
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody,
and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21 Then
they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben
answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter
between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph gave orders to
fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
Guilt
is hard to shake. We know when we have sinned. Now some sins are easier to forget… but some will pester us to the end. They feel distress from how they have treated their younger brother Joseph. Reuben, who seems to have had more mercy
than the others, states: “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” Today, sin still stains us and only Jesus can get the stain out. Sometimes we just can’t
shake it. Even when we know that we have been forgiven, we come to realize how power sin is and what it does to us. It separates us from God. Glory be to God that he has a plan to restore us through Jesus Christ.
I pray: O Lord, I give thanks for your plan of salvation. Help me to let go of my sins through the forgiveness that Jesus has brought through his life, death, and resurrection.
Amen.