“We Are Your Slaves”

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:15-21

The Berlin Wall was built in August 1961. It stood for 25 years as one of the most powerful symbols of the smoldering animosity. Then on November 9, 1989, it was announced that citizens could cross freely from East to West Berlin. The entire wall was demolished the following year.

Joseph’s brothers hated him. Yet Joseph refused to build a wall of hatred between himself and his brothers, who had sold him into slavery. When a famine brought them face to face after many years, Joseph treated his brothers with kindness, saying, “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good…” Joseph comforted them and “spoke kindly to them,” helping to restore a relationship between them.

Twenty-five years today, an oppressive manmade barrier was opened, offering freedom and reuniting families and friends.

If we’ve built walls of anger and separation between ourselves and others, the Lord is willing and able to help us begin tearing them down today.

Anger builds walls; love breaks them down.

Our Daily Bread – November 9, 2014