A MATTER OF ATTITUDE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Genesis 37:5-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the first four verses of Genesis, chapter 37, we picked back up with the story of Jacob (also named Israel by God). You’ll remember that we learned how Jacob loved Joseph more than his other eleven sons, even going as far as making a special robe of many colors for his favored boy. Indeed, we see where the robe would serve as a symbolic representation of the special favor Joseph had in the eyes of his father, a special favor that had negative consequences. For the scriptures told us that Joseph’s brothers developed a hatred and jealousy that burned deep within them, a hatred and jealousy that would only grow as we love to our passage today. Let’s look again at those words here:

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Vv.5-11

In these seven verses, we see the how the brothers’ contempt for Joseph only grew and festered inside their hearts, like a wound that is not treated properly and gets infected. In regard to the mentioned wound, if it’s not given proper attention, it will only spread and become more toxic to the body with potentially deadly results if not tended to. Using this as an analogy, we see the sinful ire inside of Joseph’s brothers was definitely spreading out of control, moving them from anger to hatred to rage, and later, to more deadly thoughts.

So here are some questions to consider before we proceed:

Why were the eleven brothers so angry with Joseph?

Wasn’t it because Jacob loved him more and gave him the special robe?

We know it was and so here’s the final question:

Was that really a good reason to hate Joseph?

Maybe the answer would be “yes” if a person is selfish, conceited and self-centered. After all, did Joseph ask for these things from his father? No, Jacob was the one who initiated everything and yet, his eleven sons directed their rage toward Joseph.

This rage only amplified after Joseph shares a couple of dreams he had, ones in which he ends up being the leader of his brothers and parents. This further incensed his brothers and their negative feelings towards him. We see that even his father, Jacob, rebuked him but at least he resolved to keep “the matter in hand", displaying a wisdom that transcended his sons. In the moment, Jacob didn’t see that there wasn’t any real big deal over what Joseph said.

After all, what would be the big deal if Joseph did end up being in a leadership position over the family. When it comes right down to it, not everyone can be in charge and the proper attitude is to respect those whose authority we fall under.

You know, it’s been said that to be a truly good leader, you first have to learn how to follow properly and with leadership having been such a big part of my life, I can tell you that the statement is true. Applied to this account in Genesis, we see where Joseph’s brothers were not followers and their attitudes show that they weren’t being real brothers either, a problem we will see the Lord fix as this story advances .

You know, the sad part of all this is that it’s not just restricted to Old Testament times. We still see it happening today as it has through the ages as sibling rivalries continue to repeat the terrible mistakes of the past.

At the heart of the matter is that most people don’t like to be second. Rather, they would love to be the center of attention and when someone else gets the favor instead, they have a tendency to not handle things well. Just like Joseph’s brothers, they begin to get angry, then anger morphs into hate, and before long, they can completely look to discredit or even eliminate the favored one. This plot need not involve injuring or killing a person physically but it could definitely involve character assassination or attempting to harm someone emotionally by the things we say or do.

Ask yourself how often people might seek to discredit someone so they can make themselves look better?

This is exactly in line with what I’m talking about here and we need to know that such ugly, sinful behavior is totally displeasing to the Lord. For He would tell us that life isn’t a competition. Rather, He calls us and others to do things in accordance with His will and our only appropriate response is to carry out what He desires in complete obedience, whether His call is to lead or follow.

The bottom line is that our responses to the things of life come down to a matter of attitude and if we have the Lord in our heart and surrender to His way, then we will have a servant’s attitude and do whatever He calls us to do. Conversely, if we have Satan in our heart, then we will do things according to what we think is right, responding in accordance with our own will which is really the same as responding in step with his. Those responses could include anger, hatred, resentfulness, jealousy, and/or envy, or in other words, sin.

Ultimately, we all have a choice and that choice is born out of our inner attitude. The scriptures today are calling us to self examine, especially in matters where someone may have gained preference over us. We are being asked to assess our feelings to see where they fall.

In these instances, are we living with an attitude of selfishness, envy, and covetousness, or are we choosing to rejoice and be glad in the blessings that others receive, even if those blessings are ones we really wanted for ourselves?

My prayer is that your overall life attitude would align with that of the Lord for when we do this, we can be assured that we’ll always be first in His eyes and that’s really all that counts in the end.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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