Unfriendly purposes

Unfriendly purposes

"And Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said to them, You are spies and with unfriendly purpose you have come to observe [secretly] the nakedness of the land."(Gen.42.9 AMP)

I wonder how Joseph had kept and checked his emotions when he saw his brothers bowing themselves to him and treating him with honour. Our text says he remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them. 

"Joseph was running the country; he was the one who gave out rations to all the people. When Joseph's brothers arrived, they treated him with honor, bowing to him." (Gen.42.6) 

They treated Joseph with honour having not recognized Joseph for who he was. Maybe, they would have treated him as such because of his new position. But this throws up the way we treat people we are familiar with - especially family members. We tend to treat outsiders with respect and honour than we do family members. The brothers had not only maltreated Joseph but also sold him into slavery. But here they were, not recognizing Joseph for who he was, they treated him with honour and bow down to him. Familiarity breeds contempt. We take for granted what and those with whom we are familiar. How do treat family members? 

In return, Joseph pretending not to know them spoke roughly to them to test them and he says to them, you are spies and have unfriendly purposes. 

When we have friendly purposes we treat people with honour and dignity. We do not have to be friends with everyone, but we must learn to be friendly. Treat people well, irrespective of class or status, creed or religion. We are first humans before we are any of those things. So treat people well. 

Good day,
Have a great day today,
Emmanuel Okoro,
(aka Mr. Lift) 

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