With All Your Heart and Soul: Joseph By Nate Williamson

If you remember, our theme verse for this year is Mark 12:29-31, “ 29  Jesus

replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our

God is the one and only Lord.  30  And you must love the Lord your God with all your

heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ [g]   31  The second is equally

important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [h]  No other commandment is greater

than these.”

Today I want to talk about loving the Lord with all your heart and soul.

When we talk about the heart we are talking about the core of your belief system:

what you believe to be truly true. It is those core beliefs that shape your actions and

your thoughts. When we talk about your soul, we talk about your hope for eternity.

What you are “all in” on.

Our activity this morning was to see how far someone would go for 5 bucks.

At what cost would you be willing to sacrifice how people perceive you for

something that can be spent in an instant on something that won’t satisfy. What can

you buy with $5? A couple packs of gum? A Wendy’s biggee bag? Not much.

If you know the story of Joseph, his brothers sold him for the price of a slave

(20 pieces of silver). They hated him so much that they were considering killing him,

but realized that they could profit off of getting rid of him, and so, they changed their

mind. How could anyone do this to their own brother (their flesh and blood)? They

wanted what Joseph had, their father’s love and attention. Unfortunately, their dad

did play favorites. And they thought if Joseph was out of the way, they would gain

their father’s love. It didn’t work that way. The reward of 20 pieces of silver was not

worth the price they paid to get rid of their brother. Long after that money was

spent, they still had the guilt of their actions and instead of gaining their father’s

love, they broke his heart.

But I don’t want to talk about Joseph’s brothers today, but Joseph himself.

When Joseph was sold into slavery, he was just a teenager. Can you imagine with all

your hopes and dreams for the future right now, having all that stolen from you as

you are being forced to be a slave maybe for the rest of your life? You lose your

family, your future, your stuff and are left with nothing.

Most of us would be angry and upset. We would try to escape and get back

home. We would dig in our heels and fight against the slavers and the one that now

owns us. That isn’t at all what Joseph did.

Read Genesis 39:1-6

When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by

Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the

king of Egypt. 2  The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he

served in the home of his Egyptian master.  3  Potiphar noticed this and realized that

the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.  4  This pleased

Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his

entire household and everything he owned.  5  From the day Joseph was put in charge

of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s

household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops

and livestock flourished.  6  So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative

responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a

thing—except what kind of food to eat!

What is wrong with Joseph! He doesn’t deserve to be a slave. He was wrongly

treated and the victim of injustice. Why would he work so hard for Potiphar?

Because Potiphar may own Joseph’s body, but his heart and soul belong to God.

Joseph knows that no one can separate him from God. Even Potiphar realized that

God was with Joseph and that is why he trusts him so much. What we didn’t talk

about was the dreams God gave Joseph that were promises that his brothers would

one day bow down to him. That hasn’t happened yet, not at all! But God made those

promises in those dreams and Joseph is holding on to God’s promises.

Listen, life will be difficult. It isn’t always fair or just. It rarely will go the way

you planned. People will hurt you and take advantage of you. But you can thrive

instead of just surviving if your heart and soul belongs to God. Romans 8:9 says,

“ 39  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation

will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus

our Lord.” Joseph trusted God and loved God with all his heart. He still believed that

God was in control and had a best plan for his life in spite of his circumstances and

situations. And because of that, he became the best servant he could be. Because

Joseph loved God with all his soul, he could see past his current circumstances and

situation and know that God had promised better days ahead. So Joseph never lost

hope because he loved God with all his soul.

Yeah, there were opportunities where Joseph could have traded in his love

for God for something lesser. Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. He could have

convinced himself that it was okay. I mean, he was a young man in the prime of his

life with a very low chance of freedom from the world’s perspective. Many times if a

slave were to marry it would not be his choice, but his masters. Here he is offered

momentary pleasure that he could convince himself he deserved.

But how did Joseph say no? Especially when it says Potiphar’s wife pursued

him daily? Genesis 39:8-9, “ 8  But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master

trusts me with everything in his entire household.  9  No one here has more authority

than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.

How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

There are two reasons why Joseph is able to resist. He looks at the trust he

has with his master and realizes she isn’t worth the sacrifice (love neighbor). Like

the garden of eden he says, “I can eat from any tree but one. Why would I trade the

fruit from all of these trees for your fruit?” But the second reason is greater. He says

it would be a great sin against God. His relationship with God is the true prize. He

loves God more than anything and to commit adultery is to greatly harm his

relationship with God (love God). No way.

And the result of his resistance? Defamation and prison. He is a righteous guy

that keeps ending further away from what any of us would think he deserves. He is

thrown in the worst prison possible: the king’s prison. This is the perfect time to feel

sorry for himself and break his relationship with God. I mean, when this is our

reality we can turn on those we love the most. Joseph still refuses. He does the same

thing as a prisoner that he did as a slave, he becomes the best prisoner he can to the

point that the warden entrusts this young man/teenager with the care of all the

other prisoners (can you imagine how awful some of these guys must be to be in the

maximum security prison?).

How did Joseph do it? He loved God with all his heart and soul because he

knew God loved him even more so in spite of his circumstances. God had a plan and

Joseph was sent. Genesis 39:21, “ 21  But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and

showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison

warden.”

Well you know the story by now, Joseph does get out of that prison at God’s

perfect timing and becomes second in command in all of Egypt. God gives him the

plan on how to survive the incoming famine which sets up a scenario where his

brothers come to him for help without realizing it is Joseph. They do bow down to

him. And Joseph sets up a scenario to ensure that his father and brother are okay

and see if the character of his brothers have changed.

When he finally reveals himself to his brothers. He has a chance to make

them pay for all the years of pain and suffering he endured. While they were free

and living at home he was a slave and prisoner. How unfair! But that isn’t how

Joseph sees it at all. Because his heart and soul belongs to God, he sees the

situation far differently.

Genesis 50:19-21, 19  But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that

I can punish you?  20  You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He

brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  21  No, don’t be

afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them

by speaking kindly to them.

Because Joseph loved God with all of his heart and soul there was nothing

this world could give him or take away from him that could sour his perspective on

his life and God’s plan for him. He pitied his brothers that they traded him for silver.

But in return, Joseph refused to trade in their relationships for revenge.

Loving the Lord with all our heart and soul is the greatest reward in itself. It

is eternally lasting and forever fulfilling. It enables us to have joy and peace no

matter our circumstances and situations. And enables us to become world changers

like Joseph because the love of God is all we need and we fully trust him.

Do you want to be like Joseph? Then you need to stop trading in that

relationship for lesser things. You need to believe and trust his love. You need to

know in the core of your being that no matter what you go through it is worth it

because God has a plan for all of it. Joseph made that decision as a teenager and it

carried him through the rest of your life. You are not too young to make that choice.

What will you choose today.