Gen 56: Chapter 43
Book of Genesis #56
One brother was detained in Egypt but there was grain for everyone else so life goes on.
But the famine was severe and when the provisions that had brought back from Egypt were about to run out Judah spoke to his father and told him he had to make a choice: either they bring the lad Benjamin to Egypt or they all risk dying from hunger.
Still, Jacob hesitated for he was very attached to Benjamin.
Sometimes God has to speak very loudly to loosen the bonds that hold us back, weigh us down, and prevent us from hearing his voice. These are bonds we create for ourselves in the course of a lifetime and they need not be sinful such as bonds of affection to our loved ones or faithfulness to our state of life.
Yet even these harbor a hidden vice where we may always run the risk of preferring the creature for the Creator. To better understand the risk inherent in the things we care about or the people we love ask yourself this simple question: how can a person who is in heaven be eternally happy when they find out that one of their loved ones (father, mother, or a child) is in hell for all eternity?
Truly the Love of God is not be trifled with nor should it ever be reduced to a vague sensation of comfort.
