Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
A Life with a Message
“My master has withheld nothing from me
except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing
and sin against God?”(9)
Frederick W. Robertson once stated, “Life, like war, is a
series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian nor the best general who
makes the fewest mistakes. Poor mediocrity may secure that, but he is best who
wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes.”
The maturity of Joseph
Joseph was young when he was sold by his brothers to the
Midianites, and enslaved by Potiphar. He had all the reason in the world to
cry, to hate his family, and to hate God. At the age of seventeen, many would
argue that his splendid life was stolen from him. He went from wearing his
richly ornamented robe to slave clothes. Yet, in his life, he did not succumb
to the struggles that came before him. In fact, when Potiphar’s wife tried to
seduce him, he denied her the pleasure. Joseph showed great maturity and faith
in God when others would have told him to forsake his God.
The message of Joseph’s life
As mentioned before, Joseph could have been like any
teenager and hated his family and God, but he chose not to. He made the best of
his situation, and God blessed Potiphar because of that. Potiphar was so
impressed with Joseph that he put Joseph in charge of the whole house and made
him second in command of the household. Joseph knew to work hard even though he
could have gotten by doing the minimum amount of work. He could have even
chosen to wallow in his despair. Joseph also could have fallen to the advances
of Potiphar’s wife. Potiphar and his wife were very wealthy, so his wife was
probably quite beautiful. Instead, Joseph would not fall for her. Joseph did
not say, “I’d be hurting you,” or “I would be sinning against Potiphar.” He
knew that if he sinned, he would be sinning and disobeying God.
The life of Joseph teaches us that the message of our life
should reflect Christ. Temptations may arise, and others may try to bring us
down, but even in the midst of adversity, our life should reflect the message
of Jesus.
Prayer: Father, empower us as believers to live a
life like Christ, and help us to not fall into temptation, but give us the
strength to enable others to see the message that Christ lives in us through
our actions and words. Amen.
Mat Stan Samuel, St.
Paul’s MTC, Dallas