The bright pink tractor was spinning around and around, and smoke and steam surrounded it. A coat with many bright colors came out of the smokestack! When the smoke and steam cleared away, M&M and Gummy Bear saw that they were in a desert.
M&M said, “Hey did you see that coat with many bright colors that came out of the tractor’s smokestack? That reminds me of a story in the Bible!”
Gummy Bear said, “I do not know that story, will you tell it to me?”
M&M began the story, “Once there was a boy named Joseph. He had 11 brothers, but he was his Dad’s favorite. His Dad made him a very special coat with many bright colors in it. This coat made his brothers jealous, and Joseph used to brag about all the dreams he had. He said that his dreams came right from God and that he was special. His brothers hated him because of this. One day Joseph met his brothers out in the field where they were taking care of their sheep. Dad was not around, so the 11 brothers took the coat with all the bright colors away from Joseph and sold him as a slave.”
Just then a caravan of camels came by M&M and Gummy Bear. There was one camel that had a sign on it that said, ‘Slave for sale’, the boy riding that camel did not have a coat. Gummy Bear said, “Maybe that slave is Joseph, let’s go and find out!” Gummy Bear drove the bright pink tractor right up beside the camel with the slave on it, but Gummy Bear was not paying close attention to where he was driving, and he bumped the camel in front of him. That camel could not see or hear the bright pink tractor, but he could feel it bumping into him! The camel looked behind him to see what had bumped into him and he could not see anything there. The camel thought that was really spooky, so he began to run to get away from whatever was bumping him. Of course, that camel ran into all the camels in front of him, and they all began to run too! Soon the whole caravan was stampeding towards Egypt and the camel drivers could not stop them! Gummy Bear put the bright pink tractor into high gear so that he could keep up with them, and whenever a camel started to get tired and slow down, Gummy Bear bumped that camel with the bright pink tractor and the camel began running fast again. Gummy Bear was having a great time!
The caravan arrived in Egypt in record time and all the camels collapsed from extreme fatigue and fear in front of a big house! The owner of the house was named Potiphar. Potiphar came out of his house and saw all those camels laying in his front yard gasping like fish out of water. He yelled to the camel drivers, “Get these camels out of my front yard!” Then he said, “By the way, I think I will buy that slave!” M&M and Gummy Bear watched as Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar. Joseph had to work hard, but he was a good worker and never complained. M&M and Gummy Bear noticed that Joseph prayed every day to God and asked God to help him. Joseph also asked God to help him forgive his brothers for selling him as a slave.
One day Potiphar’s wife told some lies about Joseph. Even though the lies did not have a bit of truth in them, Potiphar believed the lies and had Joseph thrown into jail. M&M and Gummy Bear peeked into the jail window and saw that Joseph was still praying to God and asking God to help him. Joseph also asked God to help him forgive his brothers and Potiphar and Potiphar’s wife!
After a long time, the king of Egypt, (who was called Pharaoh) had a bad dream. Pharaoh was terrified by this dream and wanted to know what it meant. Pharaoh called for all the wise men of Egypt and asked them to tell him what the dream meant. The wise men had no idea about what the dream meant. One of Pharaoh’s servants told Pharaoh that there was a man in jail named Joseph and that he could tell people what dreams meant.
Pharaoh immediately had Joseph brought out of jail and Pharaoh asked Joseph to tell him what the dream meant. Joseph told Pharaoh that no man could tell Pharaoh what the dream meant, but Joseph told Pharaoh that he would ask God to tell him what the dream meant.
Sure enough, God told Joseph what the dream meant, and Joseph took the message to Pharaoh. Joseph told Pharaoh that the next seven years would be good years, but the seven years after that there would not be rain, and no food could be grown. Pharaoh believed that dream, and he put Joseph in charge of all the food in Egypt, so that they would not run out of food. No one in Egypt was more important than Joseph; he was the number two man in Egypt, right behind Pharaoh himself.
It was getting exciting! Just then a camel happened to wander by. Gummy Bear wanted to have some more fun, so he said, “I am going to bump that camel with our bright pink tractor and see him get scared and run!” Just as Gummy Bear was about to bump into that camel, the camel happened to turn around and his nose happened to hit the bright red button on the bright pink tractor!
There was a noise like a strong wind, the bright pink tractor began spinning in circles, smoke and steam surrounded them and …
What Gummy Bear, M&M and you can learn from this story:
The story of Joseph is found in the Bible in Genesis 37 & 39:1 thru 41:40.
We can learn three things from this story about Joseph:
- Joseph did not complain about how unfair everyone treated him. His focus was on God. We should also focus on God and not worry about life being unfair.
In the Bible in Philippians 2:14-15 it says:
Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
- Joseph always did his best when he served Potiphar and Pharaoh. We should also aways do our best, and not make excuses to do anything less than our best.
In the Bible in Colossians 3:23-24 it says:
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
- Joseph trust God to guide his life. Each of us should also trust God to guide our life.
In the Bible in Proverbs 3:5-6 it says:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.