Day 21 The shopping trip that ended in slavery.

Gen 41:51-57 Here are two aspects of prosperity recorded in the names of Joseph's sons.

Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said,"It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."

When life goes well, we feel great and no burden is too great to bear. That is level one. The next step is to "produce" something, knowing that ones endeavours are making progress gives us hope for a better outcome and keeps us going.

Joseph also knew that 7 years of famine was around the corner, but he didn't focus on that in his family life. He enjoyed the children and seen them as the hope through his hardships in his past. Famines generally don't last forever, his life was still fruitful in the face of famine.

Joseph done all he could to prepare for the famine, interpreting the dreams - the sign of the times- connecting with those in authority to implement a plan, execute and administer the plan.

The famine had serious ongoing consequences for the common people, eventually they were indebted to the government and sold themselves into slavery for survival...

Be careful what we buy into today...it may possess us tomorrow.