Posted on November 14, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters
We’ve all seen it one time or another on a tv show or in the movies: a robbery goes wrong and the bad guys with the guns takes a child or women hostage then demands a getaway car or some other way out of there botched escape plan. Then during negotiations, one hero cop or some do-gooder, comes forward and says, “TAKE ME” and lets the hostages go!! Then they thwart the robbery gone wrong and everyone comes out alive and happy. But in real life, several times in cases where someone takes the place of a hostage the outcome did not go as planned. But the person that traded places knew the risk and gave his life for others.
One of the greatest examples of that is when Jesus willingly went to the cross to save the world from their sins. Jesus paid the ultimate price to save every soul that whoever believed in Him would live forever. Jesus said take me that you shall live and not be in bondage anymore!
But another long before Christ walked the earth made a decision to put his life on the line for someone else. Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob and Rachel. His brothers hated him. While working in the fields, they saw Joseph approaching them and plotted to do him harm. Genesis 37:18 says, “they saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him.” Only Reuban stood up for Joseph, but the others still wanted him gone. They threw him into a pit. Verse 26 says, “Judah said to his brothers. What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover his blood? Come on, lets sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, and our own flesh and his brothers agreed”
Nice family, huh! I was the baby boy in my family. Can’t imagine my four brothers plotting to sell me into slavery. Although I’m sure they must have thought of it once or twice!
Fast forward about 15 years; Joseph has now become the second most powerful person Egypt, only Pharaoh had more power. He saved the country from famine because of the way he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. Not bad for a teenager that was sold into slavery. But there was unfinished business to attend to. Two years after the famine of region struck, guess who comes knocking on the door… ten of the brothers that sold him into slavery!
Best chance to get even if you ever needed one. But no, Joseph recognized his brothers and tested them. He knew why Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, wasn’t with them on the first trip to buy food. But he held out until Judah, the one that hatched the idea of selling him, had a true change of heart. After holding them as slaves for three days, Joseph kept one brother, Simeon, in captivity as the rest of the brothers went to get Benjamin. On their return to free Simeon, Benjamin was with them, and Joseph plotted his revenge and set up Benjamin as the fall guy. Benjamin was going to be his slave, but Judah wasn’t going to let that happen.
Genesis 44:33-34 says, “Now please let your servant remain here as my Lords slave in place of the boy, let him go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”
“Take me” was Judah’s response. Not like the first time around. Almighty God changed his heart for good. Will we ever get the chance to say “TAKE ME!”
Written by Robert Breault: Robert was blessed to work 8 years in the Keswick Raws kitchen and is now retired, well, almost. He’s a loving husband to Shirley, a wicked stepfather to Shirley’s three “Angels”/children, and a doting Pop-Pop to their two grandchildren, Charlotte and Max. But most important, he is a child of the one true King!
Think About This: “The essence of true holiness is to be Christlike, to live as He lived and, in any given situation, to act as He would act. In fact, holiness means allowing the Holy Spirit of Christ to live in us and rule our lives” ― David K. Bernard
The Daily Bible Reading: John 18-19. You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” Hebrews 12:14-15
Consider a retreat at America’s Keswick retreat center.
