Joseph's Success
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13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.
Joseph occupies the position of an administrator, or we might even think of this in modern terms as a manager/director.
Five years of famine to come (Gen 45:11)
Eventually, the Egyptians money runs out v14
Livestock for one year v16
After everything is gone:
18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
What do you think the reaction is to the entire land being made into servants?
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.”
Thankfulness. And when you consider the alternative, that reaction makes sense.
And Joseph makes a statute
26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.
God intends for all people to work.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Even in perfect creation, Adam was to work.
From the Proverbs
4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
Our NT mandate:
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
God intends His workers to be peacekeepers.
Imagine we get to work tomorrow and we’re told that we now have to pay another 20% tax.
Imagine we get to work tomorrow and we’re told that we are now the property of our business.
This is exactly what Joseph has to deliver, and he does it in a way that the people are thankful.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
God intends His workers to be above reproach.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Similar to what was said of Job in Job 1:8: “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
In the Greek, same word translated in 1 Cor 1:8 as guiltless and 1 Tim 3:10 as blameless.
To be above reproach is to conduct oneself in a way that you cannot be reasonably accused of wrongdoing.
Illustration: Accused of not installing a fax machine at work, took a dozen pages of documentation directly to the president of the company.
Illustration: Tech companies have too much information on us, but I knowingly turn on location tracking so that nobody can accuse me of wrongdoing.
Ways to be above reproach:
Let yourself be seen as a faithful worker
Own your mistakes
Have a record of everything
God intends His workers to be successful.
Do not hear something I haven’t said! Success comes in all forms.
How many people in here would say we have a successful pantry ministry?
What makes it that way? Because if I just look at the budget, it doesn’t make us money.
We take our pantry guidelines directly from 1 Peter 4:8, 9, and 10. “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace...”
Be loving
Be hospitable
Be a servant
What makes us successful is achieving our goals.
Here is what we will do this week:
Set an achievable goal.
List the steps. (Be God-honoring)
Complete the steps. (Daily)
Example 1: I want to grow closer to God
Goal: Read my Bible every day
Steps: Get up at 5:30, Read one chapter
What do you do if you fail? Evaluate your steps.
Steps: Set coffee maker the night before, go to bed on-time, get up at 5:30, read one chapter
Example 2: I want to be more evangelistic
Goal: Invite one person to small-group/church.
Steps: Pray, Contact, Follow-up, Meet
Example 3: I want to be a better worker
Un-achievable goal (in a week): Work harder (by what measure?)
Achievable goal: Be ten minutes early each day.
Achievable goal: Do one task my boss usually does.
To be clear, we cannot be successful like Joseph is apart from God. You might have earthly success for a time, but that will go away.
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.