January 25 Forgiveness is Real

January 25
Forgiveness is Real
Read Genesis 49-50

Gen 50:15-17 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?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brother’s 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.

JOSEPH’S brothers still feel guilty. About 17 years have passed since Jacob and his family came to live in Egypt, and Joseph has demonstrated his forgiveness to them. Still the brothers wonder if Joseph will turn on them for the wrongs they did to him many years before this.
That’s the thing about sin. Even when someone says, “I forgive you.” we still want to keep condemning ourselves. The guilt inside lingers and eats away at us. And we are never sure of what the “forgiver” thinks about us.
Joseph weeps in his frustration. His brothers did not truly understand his grace. Joseph had forgiven those transgressions, and he wanted to move forward.
In a like manner, God must feel a great sadness when we continually deny his love and forgiveness. He says when we repent, when we say, “I’m wrong. I want to be with you, LORD.” he will forgive and forget our sins. He wants to point us to the future, to a new and restored relationship with him.
Will you trust God’s forgiveness? The Son, Jesus Christ, bled on a cross to remove your sin. Trust the blood. Trust the cross. Trust the great grace.


Pause and Consider: God forgives and forgets your sin. Will you?