Daily Devotions
Judah's Redemption
Title: Judah's Redemption
Reading for January 13: Genesis 42-43
And Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever."
Genesis 43:8-9
What do you do when you've blown it? When you've hurt not only yourself but many people you love and care about? When you've made a decision that will follow you till the day you die?
Judah made one of those mistakes. In fact, there's a whole chapter in Genesis devoted to his sin (chapter 38). First of all, he wronged his widowed daughter-in-law by not giving his son in marriage to her in order to bear children. Then he unknowingly impregnated her when he went into his daughter-in-law thinking she was a harlot. He disgraced the family name (thereby disgracing God's name) and hurt so many people through his actions. He blew it. Big time. You can't just forget about something like that and act like it didn't happen. That's the kind of mistake that haunts you the rest of your life.
However, that's not the end of Judah's story. Here, many years later, we see an older and more mature version of Judah. We see a man who has learned some lessons in his life. We witness true selflessness and a willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of his family. We see Judah redeeming himself.
No, doing the right thing today doesn't erase the mistakes we've made in the past. But we can, by God's grace, choose to do better. We can learn and grow and become better people by learning from our mistakes. We can choose to not let the past define us, but to embrace the second chances God gives us to do the right thing.
Father, thank you for the second chances you give us each day to do the right thing.
