Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 39:5-6

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

I don’t know much about the structure of servants in an ancient Egyptian household, but I think it seems incredible that a youth of seventeen years, brought in as a slave from a foreign land, would climb to overseer in Potiphar’s house. We do not know how exactly what length of time transpired before Potiphar trusted Joseph completely, but I imagine the process was expedited by the fact that Joseph’s works prospered beyond normal human capability, due to the intervention of the Lord.

In any case, eventually Potiphar depended so fully on Joseph that he did not even know what his own belongings were. He put it all under Joseph’s hand and trusted that the young man would not cheat him. All that remained for Potiphar was to reap the blessings of it, the bread that was served to his table.

But there is a difference between being the man that the Lord blesses and being the man who profits from the blessed one. Potiphar is in the same situation as Laban, who similarly reaped the reward of having a man of God, Jacob, under his employ. But also like Laban, Potiphar will not keep his good-luck-charm forever. He will have God’s blessing upon his household only as long as Joseph is present. Joseph, on the other hand, will keep the providence of the Lord wherever he goes.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Optimism in a Falling World- Luke 6:32-35

For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

COMMENTARY

If ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
If ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.
At times I have looked at the people around me and said “I don’t think it would be worth investing in this community. I’m only here temporarily. I could give my all to this place, but nothing lasting would come of it, so why try?” At other times I have tried…just once. I’ve invited my neighbors over for dinner, engaged them in some small talk, and if things took off we became friends…but if not, then I’d be polite, I’d smile and wave from across the street, but we would never become anything more than “acquaintances.”
Why would I try to have a relationship with someone if that relationship was not beneficial to me? Why would I engage with someone if there wasn’t something about them that was interesting or pleasant to me about them? What would be the point?

But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Well thank goodness God doesn’t feel the same way! There isn’t a whole lot of value He can get out of His association with us either. Yet He spreads love to children that will never be able to pay Him back for the investment. He spreads love to children that don’t ever acknowledge what He does for them. He spreads His love to children that even label themselves as His enemies! He gives all of them breath and life and beautiful sunsets and depth of emotion and the offer of His peace.
God does not limit His love to the places that return a profit and neither should we. We should not decide our relationships based simply on what they can do for us. For even if this world was falling apart and beyond all reclamation, it would still be worthy for us to pour our love into it. For even if doing so did not have the desired effect on the world, it would still have the desired effect on us.

Posted on by Abe Austin · 2 Comments

Active Discipleship- 2 Corinthians 9:7, 1 Corinthians 13:3, Moroni 7:6

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.

COMMENTARY

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give
At first glance, it may appear that this verse condones a more passive discipleship. If you do not feel the push to give yourself fully to the gospel, then don’t. Just invest to what degree you feel like. One might try to use this verse as justification to dabble with God and say that that was enough.
But that is a misreading of the passage. It does not say “according as he purposeth in his mind,” it says the “heart.” It has always been my mind that tries to rationalize effortless discipleship, but my heart has always yearned to give myself even more to God. I think many of us, if we are really honest with ourselves, have a heart that is more giving than we allow it to be. Not a one of us has a stingy heart…only a suppressed one.

Though I bestow my goods to feed the poor, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing
For if he offereth a gift, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing
And so long as we keep our hearts suppressed, then we will receive no benefit for whatever token efforts we make. God is not going to reward us for our begrudging discipleship. He is not going to pat us on the back for doing things devoid of any real heart. If He did, it would reinforce our passive lifestyle, and prove detrimental for our development. Thus it becomes all too easy to make a half-hearted effort at following God, receive no spiritual nourishment for it, and then say “see, there’s no benefit in this.” But even as we say this, our conscience knows we never really tried.
God is not content with us going through the motions like trained monkeys. He is a jealous God, and He wants our hearts. Real relationships require real investment, and God wants the realest relationship with us imaginable.