“And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.” (Genesis 39:12)
This is taken from Joseph’s life. He served Potiphar faithfully, but Potiphar’s wife tempted him. When he wouldn’t comply, she lied about him, and Potiphar put him in prison. In reading the events of Joseph’s life, we think poor Joseph. No matter how faithful he is in carrying out his duties, he ends up in trouble. But he is faithful to God and the Lord always pours out favor on him no matter the circumstances, even in prison. In reading about him, we realize that it all is God’s providence for a good end. All the trouble works out to be God’s Will in the end so that Abraham’s family will be saved from the terrible famine in the future.
There are two things we need to study in this Scripture. Joseph’s reaction to sin and God’s grace in his life regardless of circumstances. When trouble comes our way, the last thing we think is that it might be God’s Will. If we are God’s children, we shouldn’t fear even in the most difficult situations. God knows all things and as our loving Father, He will work out all things for our good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Look at Joseph. He was sold into slavery, lied about, imprisoned and all that was a road to the place God wanted and needed for him to be, in charge of all of Pharoah’s provision in the famine so he could rescue his family. We can’t see the broad picture. We only know yesterday and see today. It’s about trusting God and knowing He is good, no matter what is happening. It’s about praising Him and serving Him the best we can in spite of circumstances.
Joseph didn’t resent God. He could have thought, “Oh well, I’m done. God has forgotten me so I will pleasure myself in sin. I will lie with Potiphar’s wife. Or I will be slothful in prison.” No. He continued in faithfulness to God, doing good. He served Potiphar faithfully. In prison, he served the jailer faithfully. He comforted the king’s cupbearer and baker with God’s wisdom. His faithfulness brought him to the place he needed to be.
Let’s look at Joseph’s reaction to sin. In this world sin is all around. We can innocently watch a supposedly family show and sin will pop up. Do we have the discernment to realize we are not only watching sin being played out, but even accepting it in the plot of the story? Like Joseph, run for your life. Run away from even a hint of sin. The world, the devil and the flesh are all working to trap us and deceive us into thinking it’s not real, it’s acting. But we deceive ourselves. It’s a subtle way of changing our beliefs and of thinking that it’s acceptable. It may be acceptable to the world, but it’s not acceptable to God in any way, shape or form.
Another thing on TV is the use of curse words, even in family shows. It’s acceptable to use the Name of God in vain. The young people of this world use profanity profusely. They think it’s acceptable because of its use in the media. If every Christian family would shut off the TV show when sin is present, the TV moguls would take notice.
It's not wise to get so near to sin. We need to wisely avoid it all costs. Charles H. Spurgeon used these examples. Does an airplane pilot choose to go through the storm clouds? No. He avoids them and flies around them. Does the sailor run his boat as close as he can to the rocks? No. He gives them wide berth. Why? To see how close one can come to disaster, one will fall into disaster. We don’t toy around with that. Likewise with sin. Enjoying it on the TV or movie screen is disastrous to us. Avoid it. Run from it. Your life with your heavenly Father is at risk. It will touch you. It will contaminate you. It will destroy you. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1Peter 5:8)
All things in this world are suspect. This world is where the devil roams around. It’s wicked. “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” (1John 5:19) So when we are in the world, we need to walk cautiously and alert to the devil’s ploy to pull us into sin or to amuse ourselves in the presence of sin. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1Corinthians 2:14-16) We can walk in this world with the mind of Christ and avoid sin at all costs.
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