“Hurry and go up to my father.” Genesis 45:9
As soon as the brothers were reconciled to Joseph, there was work for them to do. They didn’t settle down in Egypt and have a reconciliation party. There were other people who needed to know Joseph was alive. There was the old man, Jacob, and there was an extended family of sixty-six people, including many children, and they were without food.
“Hurry and go… You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt… Hurry and bring my father down here” (45:9, 13). When we are forgiven and reconciled to God, He sends us with His great commission to go and tell.
There is an extended community around us who are loved by Christ. They are dying, just as Jacob and the family were dying in the famine. We are to take the good news to people who need to hear that the dearly loved Son of God is highly exalted and is calling them to come to Him and find food for their souls.
As Joseph sent his brothers, he said to them: “Do not quarrel on the way” (45:24). Joseph had forgiven his brothers, now they must forgive each other. They must not argue about who was more to blame. They must not divide over past sins that had already been forgiven. They must unite around their future calling on which the lives of many dearly loved people would depend.
Quarreling among Christians is always a distraction from the work Christ has given us to do. If the brothers arrive home arguing, they will undermine the credibility of their message of reconciliation. Divided brothers will not be effective in communicating the good news to Jacob.
If you have been forgiven by God, then you also have been sent by Him. Go and tell—and don’t quarrel with other brothers and sisters in Christ along the way.
Who are five people in your circle who need to be brought to the dearly loved Son?
