Day 20

Genesis 40:1-41:40; Matthew 14:1-21; Proverbs 2:12-22

Yesterday I wrote about the fact that "God was with Joseph” and people saw it in him, and this theme continues today. In fact he get’s the second most important job in Egypt simple because he is walking with God and God is walking with him.

Check out what Andy has to say about being used by God and not putting it off.

There is also a warning for today in the Genesis passage. Joseph tells the cup-bearer and the baker that “interpretations belong to God”. If you have ever been to the Works or any other book shop, you will have seen books on interpreting dreams and 101 other dodgy titles. We live in an age when it seems as though we can grasp so many things that “belong to God”. When you look at creation and how wonderful it all is we see that God has had a bit of practice at being God and to be quite frank, we mere humans are going to suck if we even try to step on his turf. We see how far this can go when Pharaoh summons the magicians - and we are not talking the illusion kind of magic from the TV. But Joseph says that all this is the preserve of God. We need to heed Joseph’s words, when people around us are dabbling in things like dream interpretation (or whatever else) we need to remember that it is God’s gig and not ours.

Proverbs continues these warnings, we may be tempted at many stages to walk in ways that are not pleasing to God, Many things will tempt us but it is the path of God that we must follow, The passage from proverbs starts with the phrase that wisdom will save us from such temptation. It is when we rely on the wisdom of God that He strengthens us against such things. Joseph could quite easily have got used to Egyptian life and Egyptian ways. He could have become the chief magician. But he stuck with the wisdom of God, he stayed faithful to God in all things, and God stayed faithful to him. 

No matter what life challenges and tempts us with, we need to stay faithful to God, allow Him to do the things that “belong to” Him and when we stick with Him, He will stick with us.