GENESIS 39:9

No one is greater in this house than I am. 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?

TO PONDER

Joseph’s brothers, out of jealousy, had sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites as a slave. The Ishmaelites then on‑sold Joseph to an Egyptian official, Potiphar. Still as a slave, God blessed Joseph so much that Potiphar entrusted all his affairs to Joseph to look after them. Even though Joseph had the responsibility of looking after Potiphar’s property, he had no rights to any of this property. He was still a slave and owned nothing, just lots of responsibilities. Sure, he lived well, ate well and dressed well, but none of these were his as a right.

When we think of our relationship with our Heavenly Father and our brother Jesus, we can see some parallels. As a child of God, all the resources of Heaven have been bequeathed to us through Jesus’s death, but we have no rights to any of them. They have been made available to us to be used by us as children of our God to carry out his purposes – just as Joseph had use of all of Potiphar’s resources to carry out Potiphar’s purposes.

As a citizen of this country, we have been given some rights by virtue of our citizenship. And I guess we would like to think that we also have rights as a citizen of the Heavenly Family. But the reality is, we don’t have any rights at all, just the promise from God that He will provide us with everything He knows we need to live in the relationship He wants to have with us – as our loving Heavenly Father.

I could think that I have a right to enjoy my life, but God has promised to fill us with the joy of working with Him in the things He has planned for us. I could think that I have a right to share time with the friends of my choice, but God wants us to also experience the fellowship of spending time with people who may be in need of support and encouragement. You could probably come up with lots more examples.

We are often given the impression that being a Christian takes the joy out of life and that we will miss out on exciting experiences. This view encourages us to think of our rights and what we should be chasing after to get the maximum from life. It is interesting that often God lets us go and try this attitude to life so that we discover the eventual emptiness of living selfishly for ourselves, and then lovingly welcoming us back into living in His family.

When you think about it, all temptation is about what we believe are our rights and what we think we need at that moment to find fulfilment in our lives. Joseph was able to say no, because he knew he had no rights, but also that God was taking care of all his needs and blessing him richly with a full life.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for providing us with all we need to live as Your children. Thank You for continually reminding us of Your love for us so that we don’t go looking for meaning and purpose in those things that lead us away from You. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping