Genesis 47:25
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.

We often hear stories of someone whose life was in danger, only for a stranger to come along and save their life. In the midst of a perilous situation, when they are truly believing they are going to die, someone is there to rescue them. This person is so grateful to have been rescued that they try to repay their hero and may offer to become their servant. But the truth is that nothing would ever be sufficient to repay someone for saving their life.

The people in Egypt had been enduring several years of famine. They had been desperately trying to grow food but were unable to produce anything on their own. At first, they’d bought food. When the money failed, they traded their cattle and possessions. Then they’d given Joseph their land and were out of things to offer. But Joseph, guided by God, had stockpiled enough food to provide for everyone. And out of his abundance, with mercy, he gives them seed so that they will be able to feed their families. These people who had been facing death by starvation are so grateful that they offer themselves as servants to Pharaoh.

How grateful are we that our lives have been saved? Not from physical death, but our very souls from eternal death. How often do we think about it as more than some abstract thought of “being saved” and realize the true depth of what we are saved from? There we were, going about our lives, living for ourselves—on the edge of the cliff, right about to go underwater, inches from being run over—that close to eternal hell. And then a Savior came. Is it real to us that we were going to die and now we’ll live forever? Do we realize truly that someone came along and pulled us back from the ledge, lifted us from the water, pushed us out of the way?

When it is real to us, we can’t help but be grateful. We can’t help but bow before the one who rescued us and say, “I will be your servant.” When the reality of our salvation burns within us, there is nothing we won’t do for God; there is nowhere we won’t go; there is nothing we won’t sacrifice; there is nothing we won’t face. We will not hold back because we almost lost everything, and now there’s no point in keeping it for ourselves.

Like the people in Egypt, we could not produce anything on our own. They had no means to grow food, just as we had no way to save ourselves from our sins. We have to come to Jesus, who gives out of His abundance of life to us, who rescues us through His own great mercy. And our gratefulness to Him produces a servant’s heart within us, where we truly desire to serve Him willingly in anything He asks us to do.