The story of Joseph can teach us important lessons about how to conduct ourselves as men. Here are 3 lessons from Joseph’s interactions in Egypt.
14 Then Pharaoh sent word and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard [h]it said about you, that [i]when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “[j]It has nothing to do with me; God will [k]give Pharaoh an answer for his own good.” 17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile; 18 and behold, seven cows, [l]fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. 19 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very [m]ugly and [n]thin, such as I had never seen for [o]ugliness in all the land of Egypt; 20 and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. 21 Yet when they had [p]devoured them, it could not be [q]detected that they had [r]devoured them, [s]for they were just as ugly as [t]before. Then I awoke. 22 I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk; 23 and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them; 24 and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25 And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s [u]dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the [v]dreams are one and the same. 27 The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine. 28 [w]It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; 30 and after them seven years of famine will [x]come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will [y]ravage the land. 31 So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. 32 Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. 33 So now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers [z]in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance. 35 Then have them collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and have them guard it. 36 Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”
37 Now the [aa]proposal seemed good [ab]to Pharaoh and [ac]to all his servants.
1 – Manage your appearance before appearing before people of power and influence.
Notice how Joseph improves the way that he looks before he goes before Pharaoh. How many people do you know who walk around dressed like overgrown ten-year-olds? That is not a good look, and it will not get you where you are trying to go in life.
Joseph realizes the importance of not appearing before Pharaoh looking like he just walked out of the prison holding cell. He shaves and cleans himself up before appearing before royalty.
We could learn to do the same in our lives. Even if we never appear before royalty we could still do much better at dressing with self-respect and acting like professionals. It would certainly not hurt to behave this way.
How many men enter into the worship assembly with no thought to how they dress?
I would argue that it is the majority of men, unfortunately. You can instantly set yourself apart from the men around you simply by taking greater care of your personal appearance.
2 – Give God the credit.
When Pharoh asks Joseph to interpret the dream, he immediately states that the interpretation of dreams belongs to God. He takes no credit for himself, but places the credit where it belongs, with God.
Many times in our life we try to take all the credit for our accomplishments. Perhaps we do achieve something with our own hands and with the sweat of our brows. But we should always acknowledge God’s hand in those matters. If we do not, we are planting seeds of arrogance, which inevitably leads to failures of various kinds.
3 – Maintain humility, but manage power with grace. Do not seek power directly, but be ready to manage it if it comes to you.
Joseph didn’t ask for power, but it came to him nonetheless. You may find yourself in similar circumstances. You may not directly seek out riches and power, but it may come into your possession, and you have to make sure you are the caliber of man who can handle that power. What would you do if the blessings of earth found their way into your hands? Would you forget God or would you be like Job who was faithful to God through wealth, poverty, and wealth again? That should be the ideal to strive toward. What will you do if power or possessions come to you?
I would encourage you to build the character now that can handle power or possession lates in life. Make sure you can mamnange blessings if they come your way.
These are 3 lessons from Joseph. As simple as they are, they are practical. We could learn many more from this man’s life, but this is where we will stop today.
