Bible in a Year, Day 27: How Joseph Ran From Temptation

Today's reading

Today's reading follows Joseph into Potiphar's house and then into prison (Genesis 39). At the center of it is the answer Joseph gave when he was pressed to sin.

No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

(Genesis 39:9, WEB)

Reflection

Pastor Jack Graham reminds us how much Joseph had already been through. God had given him great dreams, and he had his father's favor. Then his brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery. Now he was working hard for a master in a foreign land, and his master's wife pursued him day after day.

Graham says the thought must have whispered in Joseph's mind to go ahead, since nobody was watching. But as he put it, "We know that character is revealed in the dark, and our faithfulness to Christ is there when nobody is looking." Every day Joseph said no.

Look at the reasons he gave. He would not betray the master who trusted him with everything, and he would not sin against God. Graham points out that Joseph did not see this only as a wrong against another person: "He saw this as a sin against God, and ultimately, all sin is against God."

When she grabbed his cloak, Joseph ran. In Graham's words, "He didn't rationalize. He ran." It cost him dearly. She lied about him, and he was thrown into prison. As Graham says, Joseph did the right thing, but the wrong thing happened as a result.

Yet God was with him. Even in prison, the warden put Joseph in charge of everything. Graham also sees in Joseph a picture of Jesus: falsely accused and suffering for doing right. Joseph's suffering prepared him to save Egypt from famine, while Jesus' suffering saved us from sin and death. Graham ties this to 1 Peter, which commends those who bear unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.

Graham's word to us is plain: "Sometimes doing the right things cost us, but it's always worth it to obey God."

Take it with you

• Where are you tempted to think that nobody will ever know? What would it look like to run from that situation instead of negotiating with it?
• Do you see sin as a wrong against God, or only against people or yourself?
• Graham says to "Run from sin. Trust God with the results." What result are you afraid to leave in God's hands?

Prayer

Lord, you see me when no one else does. Give me the kind of character Joseph showed, so that I take sin seriously as something against you. When temptation comes, help me to run and not rationalize. When obeying you costs me something, remind me that you are with me and that you are writing my story. I trust you with the results. Amen.