Were there any sharecroppers in your family tree? In many different cultures, the lord of the land allowed the people to plant crops on his land in exchange for a percentage of the crops. Joseph provided the seed to the people. They worked the land, kept eighty percent of the crops and gave twenty percent to Pharaoh. Was this a fair deal? I have no idea. I’m not sure I fully understand our own economic system, much less one from thousands of years ago. But the people were grateful to have food and to be alive. This enabled them to survive the famine.
Genesis reports the way Joseph acquired land for Pharaoh and provided seed to the Egyptians. To be clear, all of the people became servants of Pharaoh, except the priests. They had their own land and their own agreement with Pharaoh. Also, the Israelites came into the land as herdsmen. They were not servants of Pharaoh at this point. Had you ever thought about that? The Egyptians were slaves and the Israelites were not at this point in history. Exodus will signify a seismic shift when a new Pharaoh arises that doesn’t remember Joseph.
Thinking about the Egyptians and their response to Joseph, I wondered, do I ever think I deserved a better deal from God? Each of us has challenges in life, physical, economic, emotional, and spiritual. Confidentially, do you ever think God didn’t treat you right? I suppose most of us have had moments when we wondered why we were given the thorns in our flesh which we endure. What if the Egyptians’ response informed our own response to God. We didn’t have to exist, but he allowed us to be born into this world by his own goodness. If that were not enough, he has kept us alive to this moment. By his love he is redeeming us moment by moment. As Paul told the church in Rome, “He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will not along with him graciously give us all things?”
Two songs showed up on my radio dial today. One was called, “The Goodness of God,” which describes God’s goodness and love pursuing us. The second was Cory Asbury’s song about the Sparrow. Listen to his words and ponder them:
“You take good care of me
And you know what I need before I even ask a thing
And you hold me in your hands
With a kindness that never ends
I'm carried in your love, no matter what the future brings
Yeah, you take good care of me.”
We are not promised ownership of the world we live in. But we get to steward our time and possessions as good gifts from God’s hands. God takes good care of us. And aren’t we grateful?
