We have continued on in the study of the life of Joseph. We looked at how his inner drive to do what was right afected his outcome in life.
After being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph really had no motivation in life to do any more than would keep his slave driver from killing him. Yet Joseph personified the ideal of working "not unto men, but as unto the Lord." he did not work hard and with excellence strictly to impress his master. He did so in order to reflect well his true Master.
So often Christians fall into a trap of doing as the world does, whether in school or in the workplace. We do just enough to get by and, hopefully, stay out of trouble.
Potiphar, his boss, noticed that whatever he touched prospered and that his own business was prospering because of Joseph. A lot of Christians like to talk about how the company they work for is blessed because they are there, and that is partly true. However, it takes more than you being a Christian to bring blessing to the company you work for. It takes working hard every day as though it is unto the Lord like Joseph did. Most of us stop short of that part.
Many Christians even spend their employer's time (read: money) reading the Word or witnessing to co-workers. Then they wonder why they get passed over for promotions or get laid off. They chalk it up to being persecuted for their beliefs. But Joseph shows us that it is important to work hard because it pleases God and that true promotion comes from God. Jesus tells in the book of Luke that if we want Him to trust us with bigger things of our own we must be a good steward of others' business.
Maybe your boss will never notice your hard work, but when you do it as unto the Lord (and not that boss), God will see that you are promoted -- even if it seems like there is no way and even if it means moving you somewhere else.
We also saw that, while we'd like to believe that choosing to do the right thing will have an immediate payoff, sometimes we have to just keep on doing the right thing before we see the results.
Joseph was being hit on by his boss' wife. She wanted him really badly. Joseph was doing the right thing. He knew she was an attractive woman who wanted him and that he was a young, good-looking guy. That could prove to be a dangerous combination. So he was careful not to allow himself to be alone in his boss' house with her. Eventually she figures out his ruse and sends all the staff away when she knew he would coming to the palace to work. She makes one more attempt to seduce him.
Joseph resisted the temptation -- not because of a religious law -- but because it would be an offense to his God. We can rationalize why we will keep away from a particular sin. But eventually we can find a way to rationalize committing that sin. But, when you make the commitment to not sin because it would offend God it gets rid of the gray areas of sin. Either it is right or it is wrong. Joseph knew that betraying the trust of his master would reflect poorly upon the God he served.
it is often said that we may be the only Gospel some people ever see. The biggest complaint the world has about Christians is that they are hypocrates. This is an age-old problem. Joseph was faced with the same issue. If he betrayd his master by committing adultery with his wife, then the God of Joseph would be no better than the gods of Egypt or any others that anyone else worshipped.
Then Joseph did what we should do when faced with sin and temptation -- run! Now, it didn't work out for him right away. He ends up being thrown in prison because the rejected woman accused him of rape.
Now the jail that Joseph was put in was not like ours. There was no specific sentence. You get sent to jail and no one ever sees you again. Yet, Joseph still chooses to work as unto the Lord. He probably figured he could sulk about his situation and the unfairness of it all. He could have even blamed God for it. But what god would it do? What difference would it make? Instead he figured he may as well make the best of it.
He gets put in charge of the prison's operations. Eventually he interprets a couple dreams and, even though it took another two years, all the had work and integrity pays off. he is release from prison and made second in command of the greatest empire of the day.
All of us would like the end result that Joseph found, but we must also be willing to do the work that it took to obtain that prize.
This next week we will look at the Godly wisdom of Joseph as a ruler and how it prospered him and, ultimately the entire Israelite people generations later.
