Genesis 37:31-32 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”
Ah, how you children are so capable of distancing yourselves from your sin. Notice that when they have sinned against Joseph and their father, they distance themselves from what they have done by calling Joseph “your son”, not “our brother”. Now, Jacob had a part in this. He favored Joseph over the rest of his sons, just as he had favored Rebekah over his first wife, Leah. It was not Leah’s fault that her father fooled Joseph into marrying her instead of Rebekah. Nor was it the fault of her sons. Yet, Jacob acted unfavorably toward all of them. And so, he put a wedge into his own family. And that wedge grew over the years and became this act – first plotting to kill Joseph, but then instead selling him as a slave to traveling Ishmaelites (yet another blood feud conceived in disobedience – Abram and Sarai’s sin). Jacob’s sin becomes his greatest grief. So you see? Sin begets sin. Deceit fosters more deceit. And, since all of my children know right from wrong – that deceit has to reach even into their own conscience. In order to continue on, you have to convince yourselves that your actions are, in some form, acceptable. Hence, selling their “father’s son” – not their own brother – into slavery. True repentance – true change – begins with honesty. Begins with facing the truth about yourself, your actions, your motives, your sin. There is no other way. You may be able to, at some level, fool yourselves about what you do. You can never fool me. And that is the at the core of the deepest sin – believing that you fool me, that I don’t know, that you can hide what you do. “Did God really say…..” Your enemy has been planting lies in your heads about me since Adam. And you, in your need to please yourselves and then not feel badly about what you do, have accepted his lies. Yes, I have really said sin is wrong. Yes, I have really said it distances you from me. Yes, I have really said true repentance is necessary. Sin is sin. Dress it up any way you wish. Justify it any way you desire. Convince yourself it really does not make a difference. Sin is sin. And sin puts up a barrier between us. One that your actions must tear down – be honest about yourself, your actions. Decide whether the sin is more important than your relationship with me. Either stop sinning, confess and repent or accept that you would rather stay in that sin and stay distant from me. But stop trying to live in your sin and be right with me. Those are not congruent. So choose and begin to act accordingly. And do not forget, if you choose repentance, and you begin to walk that path I will help you.
Amanuensis 