No Guilt

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

NO GUILT

Gen 42:18-28

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 stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do. 21 They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us." 22 Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." 23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter. 24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes. 25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. 27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28 "My silver has been returned," he said to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack." Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?"

NIV

Although there may be a story about Joseph and his love for his brothers even in the face of their bad actions against him, there is another story. Certainly, the story of forgiveness could be the lesson, but there is another that begs our attention. The story that jumps out is that of guilt of sin. The brothers were sure that God was doing something bad to them because of their sin against their brother Joseph. They were trembling with fear, asking what God had done to them. They were under the impression God was a God of wrath and punished men for their sins. Were they not aware of their father's sin against his brother Esau and the deception or lie against his father Isaac? Did Jacob keep his past from his sons? God still blessed Jacob with twelve sons; his promise to Abraham was being fulfilled. However, this guilt was playing havoc in the minds and hearts of the brothers because of their actions some years ago. This guilt was not from the hand of God, but from their own hands and we might even think, it may well have been from the hand of Satan. We can be certain God does not place any guilt upon us, for nor did he place that guilt upon those brothers, even if they blamed him for it. Of course, we live under the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Yet, we have seen sinful men before these brothers being blessed by God. Neither Noah, Shem, Lot, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others were perfect men. Has God enacted his justice upon men? Yes, but justice is an act of love, not vengeance. The act of God upon his Son was done because of his love for his creation and He took all guilt away, declaring us, in Christ Jesus, to be blameless and holy in his sight. We can not allow guilt to cause us to tremble in fear of God, as those brothers did. Are we sad when we commit a sin? Of course, because we feel we have disappointed our Lord, but that cannot become guilt as that feeling does not come from God. We have already been forgiven because of Jesus, although we still feel that we should seek forgiveness. However, this does not mean we should look for ways to sin or freely be open to sin. But we cannot ever allow guilt to enter our hearts and minds, or tremble in fear of God. We have seen images on pickup trucks' back windows stating, “No Fear”, but they are not speaking of God but of their own strength. However, we truly live with, “No Fear” from God, because we live in Christ Jesus, and He lives in us. This also means we should live with, “No Guilt”.