JOSEPH AND JESUS WEPT

Today’s Reading: Genesis 43-44

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Rows of pillars from the great Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak Temple complex just 2.5 km north of Luxor, Egypt.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where Reynold took the photo click HERE.

Key Verse: Genesis 43:30

Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there.

Joseph is a type, or picture, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Joseph and Jesus were rejected by their brothers, sold for the price of a slave, considered to be dead, yet later declared alive. Both wept over people and circumstances, their hearts tender for others and their sin. Both were tested severly.

Joseph, I’m sure, faced the temptation to be angry and bitter against his brothers. Have you, like Joseph, been betrayed, treated cruelly, lied about and forsaken? Because of actions taken and lies told, have you lost the beautiful experience of God’s love? Or have you retained a soft, trusting heart? God honoured Joseph highly because of his magnificent attitude. He’ll do the same for you.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Dear Lord, I need Your grace constantly. May Your Holy Spirit fill me so that the Person of Jesus Christ will be seen through me. Like Joseph, may I be tender-hearted, forgiving any and all who have sought to do me harm. I pray this in the Name of the One who prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

As children in Sunday School, we would be asked to quote a Bible verse by memory. I would often be the first to quote “Jesus wept,” the shortest verse in the Bible (John 11:35). We’d laugh, and even the teacher would manage a grimace. We, as immature children, did not understand the tears of Jesus. The only times we wept were out of self pity. As I grew older, I stopped crying for that reason. It was often reported to me that people would say, “Let’s turn on 100 Huntley Street and watch David cry.” So be it! I wear, as has been said, “my heart on my sleeve.” Sometimes I felt sheepish about my tears. I remember being encouraged when I read that the tough General Schwarzkopf, leader in the first Gulf War, said, “I never trust a man who can’t cry.” I felt better about my tears after that. I’m not ashamed to cry. Jesus and Joseph are my kind of men.

From my heart,

David