Because Joseph suffered and denied himself, he gained the riches of the life-supply; in the seven years of rich crops, he gathered the grain in many barns, and in the years of famine, everyone came to him to buy food. Christ as the real Joseph has all the food, and there’s a famine on the entire earth; all people come to Christ to receive the food supply.
In order to receive the food supply from Joseph, the people had to pay four kinds of prices: first, their money, then, their livestock, their land, and eventually, themselves (see Gen. 47:14-23). The higher the price, the higher the supply; eventually, the highest price – themselves – gave them the life supply and the seed to sow and get crops next year.
In a very similar manner, we need to come to Christ and receive the life supply from Him, and for this we need to pay a certain price.
First, we pay the price of our convenience (the “money”) – when we lose our convenience so that we enjoy the Lord, we gain the life supply from Him.
Then, we pay the price of the means of our livelihood, the things that we have and are so necessary to us for our daily living (the “cattle”). When we consecrate our car, our home, our job, our degree, and our means of livelihood to the Lord, giving it to Him, we receive a higher supply of life from Him.
Furthermore, we need to hand over “our land”, that is, our resources, and we will gain even a higher supply of life from Him.
Eventually, we will have to hand ourselves over to Him, giving Him everything of ourselves and even our whole being so that we may receive the highest supply of life and we may also have a supply to give others.
This doesn’t mean that we have to quit our job and stop fulfilling our responsibilities in the family life or the church life; it means that we abandon ourselves to the Spirit, giving everything we are and have to Christ as the real Joseph today, holding nothing back but being for Him absolutely.
When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord with no compromise or holding back, we gain the highest supply of life, and Christ as the real Joseph supplies us with life and supplies others with life through us. When we pay the highest price by handing over every part of our being to Him, we enjoy the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ!
Paying the Price to Obtain the Life Supply from the Lord
When we read the story of Joseph in Genesis we may feel sorry for him at one point, seeing how many things he goes through, how tough people are with him, and in contrast to these – how pure and innocent he is. We may also feel happy for him at the end seeing that Pharaoh raised him to the throne and made him ruler.
But the story of Joseph has a deeper meaning and speaks much more than “a success story” of a righteous young man.
Because Joseph suffered and denied himself, he was constituted to be the right person to gain the riches of the life supply, and he was the one who had all the food in the land of Egypt during the years of famine.
Watchman Nee wrote a very good song on this matter, pointing out that it’s not by gain that our life is measured but by what we’ve lost; it’s not by how much wine we drink to be happy but how much we outpour.
The reigning life, the reigning aspect of the mature life of Christ in us, is the life that gives life supply to people. The purpose and issue of our going through sufferings and trials is not that we may “rule over others” in common sense, but it is to be those who gain the life-supply and give life to people.
For this, we first need to pay the price to obtain the life-supply and then be those who minister life to others. Applying the story of Joseph to our Christian experience, there are four kinds of prices that the people had to pay (and we have to pay) in order to get the food:
1. Paying the Price of our Convenience – when the people in Egypt had no more food, they came to Joseph to get food and paid for it with their money until they had no more money. Money represents convenience – it’s not what we depend on, but our convenience.
As believers in Christ we need to pay the price of our convenience in order to gain the supply. We need to wake up in the morning a bit earlier in order to enjoy Christ; we need to put aside time to pray, fellowship, and meet with the saints. In a sense, it is inconvenient for us to do this, but when we pay the price of our convenience, we will enjoy the life-supply from Christ.
2. Paying the Price of our Means of Living – when the people in Egypt had no more money and ran out of food, Joseph asked them to pay the price of their cattle. Cattle, the livestock, signifies our means of living, for example our car, our Ph. D, our degree, our high position and career, etc.
There will be a point where waking up earlier in the morning will not be enough for us to get the life-supply; we will need to pay the price of our means of living, consecrating our job, our car, our house, our degree, our job, and all our means of living to the Lord for His purpose, and we will get a higher supply of life.
3. Paying the Price of our Resources – after they finished their money and they had no more cattle, the people in Egypt came to Joseph for food and they had to pay the price of their land in exchange for food for themselves and their family.
The land represents our resources, what we own, the things that we need to have for our daily living. There will be a time when we need more life supply from the Lord than what we get by paying the price of our convenience and the means of our living, and then the Lord will ask us to hand over our resources to Him.
The higher the price we pay, the higher the supply of life. The more we pay the price, the more life we receive. If we are willing to give the Lord our land, our house, our possessions, and all the things we have, we will receive the third kind of life supply.
4. Handing Ourselves over the Lord – when their money, their cattle, and their land was no longer theirs, the people in Egypt had to sell themselves to Pharaoh for food, and Joseph gave them both food and seed to sow and have food the next year.
Ultimately, in order to receive the best portion from the Lord, including food for our satisfaction and seed to produce something for others, we must hand ourselves – every part of our being – over to Him (Lev. 1:4).
We need to consecrate our ears to Him, making sure we listen to things pleasing to Him and giving heed only to Christ. We need to hand over our lips to Him for His use, speaking only His words.
When our whole being is handed over to the Lord and we have no more opinions, when we deny ourselves to keep the oneness, and when we are no longer our own, we receive the best life supply and we have a portion to give others also for their enjoyment and life supply.
Lord Jesus, we come to You to receive the life supply. Lord, we need the eternal food that only You can give. Strengthen us to pay the price of our convenience, our means of living, and our resources so that we may gain a higher supply of life from You. Lord, may we pay the highest price to enjoy the best supply of life and also have something to give others to eat. Strengthen us into our inner man to hand over everything we have and all that we are to You so that we may enjoy the top portion and have the highest enjoyment of God!
The Higher the Price we Pay, the Better the Portion of Enjoyment of Christ we Enjoy
When we pay the highest price by handing over every part of our being to Him, we enjoy the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ.
Many believers try to juggle their Christian life with their family life and work life since they have such a busy schedule, and they do their best to balance their personal life with the church life.
In some sense, however, we do not have to try to be balanced – we simply need to pay the price to get the life supply from the Lord. The Lord Jesus is the Dispenser of food, and we must give Him our convenience, our means of livelihood, our resources, and even ourselves, so that we may receive the food supply.
The more we give Him, the more life supply we will receive from Him. Our convenience has to go, our means of living and our resources have to go. The more we give all these to Him, the more we give what we have and what we are to Him, the more life supply we will enjoy.
This is not about having a consecration to the Lord as an emotional response to a powerful speaking in a sermon or a message we hear in a meeting; this is something besides a feeling – it is a sustained life of turning ourselves over to the Lord and abandoning everything to the Spirit, giving everything to the real Joseph today so that we may gain the life supply.
When the price is required, we don’t calculate or compromise. When it comes to obtaining the life supply it’s not a matter of the Lord being generous or merciful to us to give us food; He is not “generous” according to our human point of view, neither is He “stingy” when it comes to giving us the life supply.
We need to pay the price, and eventually He wants everything – He wants our entire being to be handed over to Him, and He will give us the highest supply of life, even making us those who supply others. The higher the price we pay, the better the portion of enjoyment of Christ we enjoy!
The kingdom life is not cheap; the church life is not cheap; the life supply is not cheap; and the Lord’s recovery is not cheap.
If we want to be those who preach the gospel and bear remaining fruit, those who shepherd people and perfect them to be functioning members in the Body, those who offer the Gentiles sanctified in the Spirit to the Lord for His satisfaction, those who work out the God-ordained way to build up the church, and those who have food and supply to give others, then we need to hand everything over to Christ, our real Joseph!
This doesn’t mean that we have to quit our job, give up our responsibilities at home, at school, or at work; we need to fulfill all our responsibilities, but we need to hand over everything to Christ.
When we pay the highest price by handing over every part of our being to Him, we enjoy the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ.
When our whole being is consecrated to the Lord and our lips, ears, eyes, hands, feet, heart, mind, will, emotions, body, and spirit is handed over to Him for His use, we will enjoy the highest life supply from Him and we will have something to give others to enjoy of Christ.
The day will come when there will be only ONE LORD over all – this One is Man and God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will own everything! He will be the Lord, we all will be owned by Him, and there will be a state of enjoyment and top release!
Today we can exercise to hand over everything to Him in order to enjoy Him and have the life supply both for ourselves and for others.
Lord Jesus, our real Joseph, we come to You for the eternal food that can really satisfy our hunger! Take us on with You to make us those who are willing to pay the highest price of handing ourselves over to You to obtain the life supply and be able to supply others with life! Lord, we want to have the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ! We consecrate our eyes with the things we watch, our ears with the things we listen to, our lips with the things we speak, our hands with the things we do, our feet with the places we go, our heart with the things we love, and our whole being to You! Lord, strengthen us to pay the highest price to obtain the highest enjoyment of Christ and to have seed to produce something for others!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minor Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis (msgs. 118-120), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (3), week 8 / msg 8, Joseph – The Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life.
- Hymns on this topic:
# ’Tis by His reign within our hearts / That life to us He e’er supplies; / When taking Him as Lord and King, / His wealth our being satisfies. / ‘Tis by His ruling from within / His fulness vast is testified; / ’Tis when His inner kingdom rules / His Body’s blessed and edified. (Hymns #942)
# Not by gain our life is measured, / But by what we’ve lost ‘tis scored; / ’Tis not how much wine is drunken, / But how much has been outpoured. / For the strength of love e’er standeth / In the sacrifice we bear; / He who has the greatest suff’ring / Ever has the most to share. / He who treats himself severely / Is the best for God to gain; / He who hurts himself most dearly / Most can comfort those in pain. / He who suffering never beareth / Is but empty “sounding brass”; / He who self-life never spareth / Has the joys which all surpass. (Hymns #635, last 2 stanzas)
# We’ve seen the vision of Christ and the church. / Reckoned the cost; all things are but loss. / Will pay the price — give all of our lives; / We’re burning bridges, left the world behind. / On God’s economy our hearts are set / We’re living a life… / On God’s economy our hearts are set, / We’ll live a life of no regrets. (Song on Paying the Price)
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