Good Morning Friends,
“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and
after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed
with me!’ But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not
concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted
to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld
nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such
a wicked thing and sin against God?’ And though she spoke to Joseph day after
day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into
the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was
inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he
left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” (Genesis 39:6-12)
The woman in this story had to have been a
beautiful woman. She was the wife of a powerful man and that would have meant
she was a very desirable woman. Joseph was a slave, a respected slave with much
responsibility, but still a slave. It must have been a powerful temptation for
him to receive such respect from the woman of the house.
But Joseph said “no” to the temptation and he
continued to say “no.” He even fled from the temptation when that was what it
took to get away from it.
Joseph had two reasons for saying no:
·
He didn’t want to hurt the man who
trusted him so much.
·
He knew it would be a sin against God.
Joseph understood the consequences of the sin
for those around him. And Joseph knew the Word well enough to recognize sin.
Those are good aids in overcoming temptation:
realize how much the sin with which you are being tempted will hurt those
around you and know the Word well enough to recognize sin.
And when you recognize the sin, flee the
temptation! “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness.” (2
Timothy 2:22)
His, by Grace,
Steve
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