Joseph's Work Ethic

As you will see, Joseph had a wonderful work ethic. Most importnatly, it wasn't his hard work or determination that paid off, it was the Lord shining through his hard work and obedience that made him prosperous. His work ethic was directly impacted by the grace and mercy of God. May our work ethic reflect Joseph's and let it produce the same results: God being glorified.


Joseph's brothers threw him into a pit and sold him to the Ishmeelites. From there, Joseph was brought into Egypt and was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard. But...

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate (Gen 39:2-6).

Joseph was then falsely accused of sleeping with Potiphar's wife and was thrown in prison...

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 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 (Gen 39:21-23).

Then Joseph interpreted Pharoah's dream, made him a proposal, and was released from prison.

This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. (Gen 41:37-41).

Being full of godly wisdom, Joseph set up a great storage plan based upon his interpretation of the dreams...

all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth (Gen 41:57).

Of course, his own brothers, the guys who sold him into slavery, came to buy grain from him and God's sovereign plan was revealed. But that is for a different post.

The point is that Joseph had an amazing work ethic. What was it? His work ethic was the LORD! He went from being a slave to being in charge of everything Potiphar owned. Then he went back to being a prisoner, only to become the second most powerful man besides Pharaoh. As the text reveals, it was the Lord who worked in and through him. May this be true of us as well and let our work ethic be directly connected with the LORD!