And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's entire family, "I will go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'My brothers and my father's entire family have come to me from the land of Canaan. These men are shepherds, and they raise livestock. They have brought with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.'" Then he said, "When Pharaoh calls for you and asks you about your occupation, you must tell him, 'We, your servants, have raised livestock all our lives, as our ancestors have always done.' When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds." (Genesis 46:31-34 NLT)
Goshen was the best land of Egypt (Genesis 47:11). This was probably because it had so much fertile ground to support the livestock. Joseph knew the politics. Egyptians despised shepherds. Goshen was outside the "city" enough that it would keep those nasty, dirty shepherds away. They got to stay in the best land of Egypt because they simply were honest about who they were...shepherds.
Often times I think that we try to make being a shepherd far too complicated. We worry about what people will think about us if we are honest about being a Christian. We about what they will say if we simply offer to pray for or with them. We don't want to tell them that we're shepherds. How will they react?
Joseph's family was honest about it. Sure, the Egyptians despised shepherds. But they ended up in the best land of Egypt being shown honor and respect by the Pharaoh himself. Not bad. God worked it all out.
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