1/21/21

"And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us." (Genesis 42:21)
I don't know how some people can sleep at night. A guilty conscience makes for a poor sleeping partner.
Joseph listens as his brothers talk to one another, and hears them discussing the event that changed Joseph's entire life.
He was just seventeen when they attacked him, and threw him into an open pit in the middle of the wilderness. His pleas for mercy fell upon deaf ears as they sold him away into slavery. The scripture records that they "...saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear;..."
God expects us to be merciful, because He is merciful! To be unmerciful is to be unlike God.
Joseph's brothers remembered how they mistreated him. And now they fear that retribution has come. That's the thing about mistreating others, you know that the other shoe will drop one day, and that you will be on the receiving end.
The Golden Rule is a good rule to live by. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12)
If you make that your plan for treating others, your conscience will be at ease, and you will sleep better at night.
Give it a spin, and see how it works out for you.
From my heart to your heart.