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This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. … The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.” (Genesis 39:21-22a, 23)
“Bloom where you’re planted”—was advice I was given as a young person. The saying pictures people like plants or trees, which have an uncanny ability to grow in seemingly impossible circumstances. Picture tiny green tendrils springing up from decaying mortar joints or creeping from cracks in sidewalks. Created by God, trees, plants, seeds, they’re not in a hurry, but they will find a way.
In our passage from Genesis, we hear how God made Joseph thrive in the most austere environments. His brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him and blessed everything he touched. Even when Joseph was falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison, even there, God made Joseph bloom. Maybe that’s why, years later, when his father, Jacob, blessed him, he said Joseph was like a fruitful vine, a “vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall” (Genesis 49:22b, NIV).
See, Joseph isn’t just any “regular Joe” who turned lemons into lemonade. Joseph is part of the family of the promised Seed (see Genesis 3:15). The “Seed” is how God described his plan to restore our faith in Him, to graft humanity back into God’s eternal life. God had regenerated this life in Joseph’s great-grandfather, Abraham. God had promised Abraham that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (see Genesis 12:3). And Abraham trusted God (see Genesis 15:6). And even when Abraham’s family was planted in some of the most inhospitable climates, even when their nation collapsed and died spiritually and politically, even then, nothing could uproot God’s promise. Because generations later, this Seed would regenerate as a single Person, Abraham’s greatest Offspring, Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, revealed to be the eternal Word, the Seed of God become Man. And Jesus was planted where nothing should grow. He was betrayed, falsely accused, crucified, dead, and buried. But God raised Him up. And today, 2,000 years later, Jesus is the most fruitful Vine there has ever been.
Tomorrow, U.S. Americans will celebrate the USA’s 250th Birthday. And we’ll hear a lot of “God Bless America” talk. It’s good to remember what the Bible teaches about God’s “blessing.” To be blessed does not mean that we will always live in favorable circumstances. To be blessed is to have God’s favor in any circumstance. And we have God’s favor not because we fought for it or worked for it or earned it, but only because of Jesus, because we’ve been grafted into Him by faith. We give thanks to God for the USA and pray for our nation. It is one more place where the Holy Spirit carries the Seed of God’s blessing to every place. And followers of Jesus can bloom here, like Joseph did in Egypt. Whatever the conditions, we can grow here, not for ourselves, but for others, for all the nations.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, keep me grafted in You so that I may bear much fruit. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
- What are the conditions of your situation that help you bloom in God’s favor?
- What are the conditions of your situation that make it difficult to stay true to God?
- Read all of Genesis 39. How does Joseph’s story encourage you to grow right where you are?
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