Grains of Sand

Pixabay From favoured son to foreign slave. Not exactly a success story. But then God has never measured success the same way we do. Genesis 39 only contains twenty-three verses and it takes Joseph from slave to prison—not exactly “upwardly mobile.” Just when it seems that things are improving Joseph is faced with a moral dilemma. His master’s wife demands services that don’t appear on his job description (39:7) and dishonour His God. To maintain job security, most people would be tempted to do whatever it takes. But not Joseph. Integrity is Joseph’s watchword. He will not betray Potiphar (39:8). And he will not betray God: “ How then can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? ” (39:9). As payment for doing what was right, Joseph ended up in prison. Somehow that doesn’t seem fair. What notable in this brief passage are these statements: “ …the Lord was with him and…the Lord gave him success in everything he did ” (39:3). That was Potiphar’s house. A little later this: “ …the...

Reading: Titus 1 Paul had left Titus with a daunting task.   The older apostle’s “ true son ” in the faith (1:4) had been assigned the job of appointing elders for all the towns that had been reached with the Gospel on the island of Crete. The trouble was, the Cretans didn’t have very good reputations (1:12) and that, unhappily, included some of those who claimed to be believers. The elders that Titus was looking for would be responsible for guiding the young churches and keeping heresy at bay—and it seems there was a lot of that going around that one little island! Choosing men of integrity was vital. The heresy and the hypocrisy would be challenges to Titus both in facing opposition to the Truth and in choosing men who met the standards for church leadership. From among those who had been, as Paul described it, “ liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons, ” Titus had to find men who had been so transformed by the Spirit of God that they were now considered “blameless” by thos...