“Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (Genesis 41:51&52, NKJV)
Most of us know the account of the life of Joseph. How his brothers hated and were jealous of him and sold him to the Ishmaelite’s, who intern sold him to become a slave to Potiphar the Egyptian. After being falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, he spent many years in prison until he was released at age thirty by Pharaoh after interpreting his dream. Joseph went from being envied, hated and sold into slavery by his brothers, a servant in Potiphar’s house, falsely accused, imprisoned and forgotten, to eventually raised to serve as Prime Minister of Egypt. And yet after all this, he never became bitter. Not only did Joseph not get bitter, but also to declare his victory; He named his children after how he felt. Manasseh, his first born, means, “to forget.” Ephraim
means, “to be fruitful.” Joseph was saying, in essence, “God has caused me to forget all the pain of my past and made me fruitful in spite of what I went through.” That is the key to our prosperity. We must get to the place where we are not bitter, mean, mad or resentful for what others have or have not done to or for us, and forget (to not holding a grudge) the past pains. To forget (forgive) and move forward is to not be held captive by what others have done. This is the first step of your becoming prosperous. It is only by “forgetting” that you are able to become “fruitful.” It is time to forgive others, and even yourself. Let go of your own guilt and the negative actions of others. It is time to FORGET AND BE FRUITFUL.