It´s Thursday - reflections on Genesis (45)

'Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.' Genesis 43:12

Realising he had no choice, Israel, (Jacob), reluctantly agreed that his sons return to Egypt  with Benjamin, insisting though, that they take back the silver they had found in their sacks in addition to enough silver to pay for the grain they now needed. 'Perhaps it was a mistake,' (v12), he said.

There are times when, through an error, we receive something inadvertently, something we are not entitled to. The world may well say, 'If the giver is none the wiser, keep it.'

Satan may well argue, 'It wasn't your mistake, they ought to be more careful,' or 'Your need is greater than theirs,' or 'Why should you have to go through all the trouble of correcting a mistake that they made?' or give you multitude of other reasons why you should benefit from the good fortune that has come your way.

I recently purchased something in a charity shop for £5 and I only had a £20 note in my wallet. Later that morning I went to take out a £5 note to discover that I had two of them in addition to a £10 note. Obviously, the charity shop had given me £20 instead of £15 change. So naturally I made my way back to the shop and explained what had happened and returned the £5. I'm pleased that it lifted their spirits, but sad that they thought such action exceptional, unusual. Sadly, I fear that even more of what Christians consider merely normal behaviour will be thought of as odd, exceptional or abnormal in this world in which we live.

The truth is that we may receive something in error, but the moment we realise the error and keep it, it becomes deceit....theft. This verse gives a marvellous example of transformation. Jacob, very much a deceitful man previously, has not only had a name change, (Israel = Striver after God), but a changed heart. God bless you all.