A Soft Heart
Reading: Genesis 42,43,44, 45
My Verse: "Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there" (43:30).
This is truly amazing and most wonderful. Joseph had every reason to be bitter. He had been through a lot; sold into slavery by his own brothers, working as a slave for many years, then falsely accused and put into prison, and finally asking someone for help then not getting it until two years later! Yes, if anyone could have been angry and bitter it was Joseph. Yet, here he is weeping because he is overwrought with emotion, not just for his youngest brother but for his family. Later after Judah makes a mighty plea with Joseph for Benjamin, Joseph again breaks down, and while weeping reveals himself to his brothers.
He could have been arrogant and lorded it over them but he did not. He could have made them live in fear of him but he does not. No, instead he tells them to not be afraid. He says their actions were for God's glory. "And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life" (45:5). Later he again says, "And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God" (45:7,8).
Wow! Oh LORD God to have such a heart! Only You can give us a soft heart, a heart that is compassionate and loving. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Exekiel 36:26).
There are so many in this world living with a heart of stone, lifeless and unable to love, unable to be compassionate. I am reading Shudaku Endo's novel Deep River. In it he has this well truly evil character. She is so incredibly heartless and yet she realizes that her life is not what it should be. She has a yearning for something more. Her longing is succinctly stated. "I want to go somewhere, go somewhere in search of something. Something real, something enduring. I want to seize hold of life . .." But she doesn't know how to do that. Many years later she is still as heartless as ever, as empty as ever. I know this is just a novel but I believe it reflects the truth of many lives.
LORD God, thank You for saving me from this empty endless searching for something and never finding that elusive something. For we are Your creations. You made us and put upon us Your stamp. We know in our inmost being that there is so much more to life that what we see with our eyes.
Yes, LORD God, thank You for "a new heart." Help me to have a soft heart like Joseph, a heart that quickly forgives, a heart that is able to give love and receive love.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
Reading: Genesis 42,43,44, 45
My Verse: "Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there" (43:30).
This is truly amazing and most wonderful. Joseph had every reason to be bitter. He had been through a lot; sold into slavery by his own brothers, working as a slave for many years, then falsely accused and put into prison, and finally asking someone for help then not getting it until two years later! Yes, if anyone could have been angry and bitter it was Joseph. Yet, here he is weeping because he is overwrought with emotion, not just for his youngest brother but for his family. Later after Judah makes a mighty plea with Joseph for Benjamin, Joseph again breaks down, and while weeping reveals himself to his brothers.
He could have been arrogant and lorded it over them but he did not. He could have made them live in fear of him but he does not. No, instead he tells them to not be afraid. He says their actions were for God's glory. "And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life" (45:5). Later he again says, "And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God" (45:7,8).
Wow! Oh LORD God to have such a heart! Only You can give us a soft heart, a heart that is compassionate and loving. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Exekiel 36:26).
There are so many in this world living with a heart of stone, lifeless and unable to love, unable to be compassionate. I am reading Shudaku Endo's novel Deep River. In it he has this well truly evil character. She is so incredibly heartless and yet she realizes that her life is not what it should be. She has a yearning for something more. Her longing is succinctly stated. "I want to go somewhere, go somewhere in search of something. Something real, something enduring. I want to seize hold of life . .." But she doesn't know how to do that. Many years later she is still as heartless as ever, as empty as ever. I know this is just a novel but I believe it reflects the truth of many lives.
LORD God, thank You for saving me from this empty endless searching for something and never finding that elusive something. For we are Your creations. You made us and put upon us Your stamp. We know in our inmost being that there is so much more to life that what we see with our eyes.
Yes, LORD God, thank You for "a new heart." Help me to have a soft heart like Joseph, a heart that quickly forgives, a heart that is able to give love and receive love.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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