"On the third day Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I fear God . . . ' " (ESV)
It is interesting that Joseph releases his brothers from their short prison stay "on the third day." We're reminded of our Savior's tenure in the tomb, before His resurrection; and we recall that we "live" because of our being raised up with Jesus. Joseph's "fear of God" led him to hasten his brothers' return trip home, so that they may feed their hungry families. Similarly, God preserves His church from starvation.
Like Joseph, let us today live in the vital fear of God--doing good to His people.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Another thing that greatly restrains wicked men's hatred of God is their education. Education won't alter the principles of their nature, but it may greatly restrain them, so that those principles shall be much more insensible both to others and also to themselves." --Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon entitled, "The Abhorrence Between God and Wicked Men"]
