3rd August 2019
READ: Genesis 41:1-4; 25-37
“…the ant…Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.” – Proverbs 6:6-8
Pharaoh had a dream about seven fat cows and seven lean ones. Joseph, who was then a prisoner, explained to the King that the seven lean cows stood for years of poverty and the seven fat cows, for years of prosperity. God advised Pharaoh through Joseph to store food during the times of plenty , so that he and the whole of Egypt would survive the lean years.
This is wisdom from God. Everybody’s life has seven lean cows and seven fat cows. There are always going to be seven lean cows and seven fat cows, and the lean ones will always eat the fat ones. That means that there is a period when things will be good. If you save in those years, when the lean years come, you won’t go-a-begging. If you are not wise in using your money , you will end up a pauper. A poor old man who looks like he never had any wealth, probably did not use his seven fat cows very well.
My father was a very good lawyer, who handled many cases in court for several years. Through his hard work, he became rich and famous—those were his fat cow years. Later, he was taken seriously ill, and kept going in and out of hospital. But he had invested in hotels and other things; therefore he reaped from all the investments of his fat cow years.
If you do not learn to save and invest during your fat cow years, the lean cow years will suddenly overtake you, leaving you with nothing but faint memories of how well you had lived ages ago.