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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Genesis 45:16-28
Repaying evil with good: that is what Joseph is doing with his brothers. That is what the Lord teaches us (Matthew 5:44), and this is the best way to win someone’s heart.
The brothers had thought they should bring the best they had (Genesis 43:11), a little balm and a little honey . . . But now they can see how insignificant it was. Pharaoh himself promises them the best in all the land, saying to them at the same time, "Regard not your stuff" (v. 20). The presence of the Lord and the enjoyment of His glory are before us. Earthly things rejected for His sake are without any value in comparison (Mark 10:29-30). Also we have proof that Jesus is alive and glorious and that He is waiting in heaven for us: He has sent us the Holy Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14).
Notice that Joseph does not give to his brothers only a country for them to live in but all they will need for the journey to take them there. What about wagons? Jesus has undertaken everything for us. What about food? His Word is our food. What about clothes? Christ can and should be seen on us (Galatians 3:27). Finally the exhortation of the one who knows his brothers so well: "See that ye fall not out by the way" (v. 24). Do we have any less need than they of such an exhortation?
