Even when no one is looking...

7 After some time the wife of Joseph’s master began to desire Joseph, and one day she said to him, “Have sexual relations with me.”
8 But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has put me in charge of everything he owns.

9 There is no one in his house greater than I. He has not kept anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God.”

10 The woman talked to Joseph every day, but he refused to have sexual relations with her or even spend time with her. (Genesis 39:7-10 NCV)


The setting of Joseph's story might seem a little foreign to you and me, but there's nothing unfamiliar with the temptation that he was facing. Beyond the watchful eye of anyone who knew him, Joseph had the opportunity to sin. It's likely that no one else would have found out...and yet Joseph knew what was right. And he chose to obey God.

Notice his remarkable reply to Potiphar's wife's solicitation in verse nine: “How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God.” He knew the bottomline: To do the wrong thing was to sin against God. Regardless of whether it was done in secret, regardless of whether the participating adults were both consenting, it wasn't what God wanted.

The Internet, late night cable TV, week-long business trips in distant cities, the check-out aisle at the grocery store...sexual temptation is everywhere. And God's high moral standards, the very standards that Joseph recognized and upheld, haven't changed. You and I need to claim Joseph's perspective on sin and ask God for the strength to make the same right choice.




*Culled from Dad's Bible, by Robert D. Wolgemuth