Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood” (Genesis 42:22).
Reuben and his brothers are in big trouble. All but one of them traveled to Egypt to buy some food. But now they are accused of being spies! They must leave a brother behind and bring their youngest brother back. They are convinced they are reaping the consequences of selling their brother Joseph to a caravan many years before. They don’t know he’s alive. They don’t know he’s standing right there in front of them. They think it’s their day of reckoning for his life. That day still haunts them after all those years.
I’ll bet all of us can identify some bad choices, decisions and sinful behavior that we believe we are paying the price for today. Getting into debt, words that destroyed a relationship or an arrest on your record. A lie, a purchase or a hasty decision you now regret. We know there will be a day of reckoning. Sometimes it feels like that day is today.
Never forget that your day of reckoning was that day when Jesus was nailed to a cross. That’s when God dealt with your sin. Jesus stood in for you and took the punishment. It wasn’t pretty. It was bloody. But it means that it’s over. Today might be hard. It might be painful. It might be a nightmare. But it’s not payback. It’s life.
We all have regrets. We all wish we could go back and do it differently. But we can’t. What a blessing to know that when it’s all said and done, God still loves us. He still cares, protects. preserves and blesses us. Yes, I will have seconds of his grace!
Thank you, Lord, for being there for my day of reckoning. Amen.
Waite for it... 