Daily devotion – false joy
Genesis 43: 31 Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the bread.”
32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. 34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs.
So they drank and were merry with him, Benjamin was not in danger, so the brothers ate with a relieved heart. But their sins still had not been dealt with. It is one thing to be relieved and quite another to be forgiven and reconciled, which was yet to happen!
The brothers needed to ask their brother Joseph, for his forgiveness for the way they had hated and abused him. They also owed their father Jacob a massive apology for deceiving him and grieving his heart.
To experience false joy and peace is a perilous thing, and to think that we are right with God because life is easier and problems less threatening is to court disaster.
As was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, so shall it be in the day when Jesus returns – Luke 17:26-30.
People will be self-confident as they carry on their daily activities and cultivate their sins, but judgment will fall, and there shall be no escape. Anything short of humble repentance and confession will not bring about reconciliation with God or with one another.
Pro 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Like the wealthy farmer in Christ’s parable – Luke 12:16-21 – people have a false confidence because they think everything is secure for years to come, only to discover that they have left God out of their lives!
Let that never be the case for us….