Joseph’s Journey: 01 – An Invitation

Consider this:

To be settled and at home with your people. Welcomed and respected by those around you. Knowing that you belong and that your nearest and dearest have your back. Knowing that you will be treated fairly and in a just manner. It’s very reassuring and provides a degree of security from which you can deal with anything that comes your way. What a thought that is.

Imagine having all of that taken away. Imagine the only things you are left with are dreams and the knowledge of a God that your father told you about. How do you go from there? How do you grow from there? How can you see this as a path of progress when all that seems to happen is setback and misunderstanding after neglect and rejection? How do you see the bigger picture when the small one is so oppressive? Where is the hope?

The sentiment of going to your own and your own not receiving you is something said about Jesus, but it is not unique to Him. If you read Stephen’s impassioned, articulate and insightful historical overview in Acts 7, you’ll see Jesus is part of a trend. A trend that can be traced back to the first brothers where the older was fatally spiteful to the younger. That pattern was also evident in how Ishmael treated Isaac and how Esau and Jacob related. Issac and Jacob have their names firmly wrapped up in the history of the nation and the covenant that established them. There was another case of not being warmly embraced by his own brothers. It should be no surprise that this involved the offspring of Jacob.

The journey of Joseph in scripture is a very important one in understanding how one man rejected would return to be a source of blessing those who rejected Him. There is much more to learn and apply when considering this story of a young man who would learn much from the things he suffered.

There are matters of character to look at with Joseph, there are also issues to do with relationships on a family level and beyond. When listening again to that story from Genesis 30 to the end of the first book, it is remarkable seeing the connections to the journey of life we may take and to what Jesus has to say about those journeys. The intention of this series is to consider a profile of this man and to encourage us to develop character and concern for the things in God’s heart.

Consider this your invitation to journey with Joseph and see where that takes you.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden