Scientists say that there are five stages of sleep. Most dreaming occurs during REM (rapid eye movement) stage, which we cycle through periodically during the night. Experts believe dreams help us process emotions by encoding and constructing memories of them. And here comes Joseph—a man of lofty dreams!
Genesis 37:5-6, 9 NKJV “Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; . . . . he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: . . . Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. . . .”
Three points from Joseph’s life on dreams and ambitions:
Dare to dream big
God has put eternity in our hearts as said by the wise man in Ecclesiastes 3:11. Yes, for something better and more grand in the future but even here God would have us to prosper. So set your aim in life high. There are limitless possibilities of what we may become in Jesus Christ. All wisdom, all wealth, are of Him, and we may ask of Him to attain the highest heights for His glory.
Determine to honour God
Never falter from what is “true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” Philippians 4:8. Do not shy away from associating yourself with God.
Decide to serve faithfully
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” Colossians 3:23
I close this devotion with a quotation from a favourite author, she says:
“Dear youth, what is the aim and purpose of your life?
Adapted from Messages to Young People, Ellen White, p. 36.
Are you ambitious for education
that you may have a name and position in the world?
Have you thoughts that you dare not express,
that you may one day stand upon the summit of intellectual greatness;
that you may sit in deliberative and legislative councils,
and help to enact laws for the nation?
There is nothing wrong in these aspirations.
You may every one of you make your mark.
You should be content with no mean attainments.
Aim high, and spare no pains to reach the standard.”
The same author goes on to say elsewhere:
Higher than the highest human thought can reach
Education, Ellen White, p. 18.
is God’s ideal for His children.
Godliness—godlikeness—is the goal to be reached.
Before the students there is opened a path of continual progress.
They have an object to achieve, a standard to attain,
that includes everything good, and pure, and noble.
May this be your experience in Jesus name.
