When thinking about people in the Bible who serve, Joseph is one that comes to mind - ya know, the one with the coat of many colors, the Prince of Egypt? Before Moses was ever given the Law to write, and before Jesus ever took and boiled the Law down to ‘love God and love your neighbor,‘Joseph did just that.
In case you don’t know… Joseph is the youngest of 12 brothers, but his dad favors him. He has dreams about how one day his brothers and even his parents will bow down to him. One day his brothers get angry and throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery. Joseph ends up in Potiphar’s house, where he does really well and becomes a trusted slave. Until one day when Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him and then accuses him of attacking her and had him thrown him in jail. While in jail, he interprets dreams for the baker and the cupbearer. This eventually leads to Joseph being brought before Pharaoh, where he interprets a dream for him. As a a result, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of setting things up and keeping them running smoothly for the famine that was coming. Eventually Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt in search of food and again, through a series of events, Joseph reveals his identity to them. He is able to serve his brothers by providing them with food even after all they had done to him. Regardless of the circumstances Joseph finds himself in, he loves God and finds ways to love people. As we mentioned last week, loving people often is done by serving them.
When you have trying circumstances in your life, you should still be serving God. Sure as a slave Joseph didn’t have much choice about serving or not. But he must have done so with a decent attitude to have risen up to the position he did. When Joseph was in jail, he could have wallowed in self-pity but instead he chose to help out fellow prisoners. He saw that the baker and the cupbearer were dejected, he asked them about their needs and did what he could to serve them.
I don’t know the details of your life. I don’t know if things are going well for you or if you feel like you’ve seen better days. But I do know that some days the last thing I feel like doing is serving. Some days I feel like no one even notices or no one cares, so what’s the point? Some days I want other people to notice that I’m going through a rough time and love and serve me. Some days I don’t want to even see other people, let alone serve them. Yet we are still commanded regardless of how we feel to love God and love others.
Luke 6:32-36 "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
God isn’t looking for us just to serve Him when we are happy and energetic or because we are going to get something in return for it or because it’s people we like anyway. We should be serving others no matter what. Often I am encouraged when I serve others; it feels good to help people. Ultimately we will be rewarded for our service too.
Reflection:
- How do you feel when you serve others?
- Right now in your life, is it easy for you to serve others? (Emotionally? Physically?)
- What are the difficulties you face when you feel God nudging you to serve?
This week: Read through the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50. What else can you learn from his life?
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This summer the youth group plans to do weekly service projects in lieu of a week-long missions trip. This is a devotional the teens were given after arriving to serve one day.
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