The Lessons from the Service of Joseph and Ruth

1.  We must never give up on God or stop believing in Him. We should remain faithful to God even in the most devasting situations.

2. God does not use our past or where we come from to determine our future. Joseph went from being from a family of shepherds in Canaan to the second highest authority in Egypt.

3. Doing the right thing and being a Christian takes great sacrifice. Ruth sacrificed the comfort of going back to her hometown to continue to look after and serve Naomi because she knew it was the right thing to do.

4. We must be excellent in serving God. This means we must do the right thing even when no one is watching. When Potiphar’s wife made sexual advances towards Joseph, Joseph never gave in because he knew it was wrong and a sin before God.

5. God always rewards us at the right time when we work hard to do the right things. We might think it is taking a long time but we must never give up. We can see this in the life of Joseph – he was sold into slavery by his brothers and put in prison when he had not done anything wrong. He had difficult times in his life but he continued to be his best and do the right things even when he was in prison.

6.  We can also be given recognition, titles and awards when we are faithful and work hard. Joseph was made second-in-command in Egypt, this is a very impressive title. In our country of Nigeria today it is possible to receive National Awards for faithful and loyal service. Some of such awards are;

OFR = Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

OON = Officer of the Order of the Niger.

GCFR = Grand Commander of the Federal Republic.

NNOM =  Nigerian National Order of Merit.

GCON =  The Great Commander of the Order of Niger.

MFR =  Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.