The Present Is All We Have Genesis 37:29–30 Should have, could have, and would have, these three are of the most tragic words of our lives. They are words of longing for another chance, words of regret. They are words that come far too late or could have been avoided altogether. There is no time like the present. If we hesitate, even for a few moments, precious opportunities can be lost forever. Joseph, clearly Jacob’s favorite, let his brothers know just how highly he thought of himself. And whether or not he was conceited or just revealing the truth about the prophetic dreams he had been having, Joseph certainly came off as arrogant to his ten brothers. To them, it seemed that Joseph was a threat, and so they decided to get rid of him. They decided that killing Joseph was the easiest and certainly most definitive solution. They planned to cover up the murder by telling their father that Joseph was ravaged by a wild animal. Reuben, the oldest of the brothers, knew that killing their brother, no matter how out of line Joseph appeared to be, was wrong. At the same time, Reuben was not sure that he would be able to overrule what his brothers had already decided. So he suggested that they put Joseph into a pit and let him die naturally, while he secretly planned to return and rescue Joseph later. The brothers agreed, but the plan went awry when Judah, brother number four, convinced the other brothers to sell Joseph instead of letting him die. Reuben was unaware of the change of plan. So when he returned to the designated pit and discovered it empty, he was utterly distraught, thinking Joseph was dead. He tore his clothing in grief, probably overwhelmed by guilt and regret; I should have….; I could have …. ; I would have …. The present is all we have. The past is gone never to come back. The future belongs to God and it might never come. The present is all we have. The time to act is now.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 21:10:12 +0000
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