Former Blackout Artist

“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!”” – Genesis 39:7

It’s not a sin to be beautiful, nor is it a sin to be wealthy. But arguably no two attributes known to man can make him more vulnerable to temptation.

While Joseph wasn’t wealthy by any means, he was quite handsome. And for this reason he found himself in the middle of a tempting situation that would easily lure most men into disaster. He still had his youthful good looks and muscular frame; two qualities that most Egyptian women desired most back in those days.

Potiphar’s wife, no doubt, was a beautiful woman. And because of her husband’s elite standing in Pharaoh’s government, she herself was also a woman of status. Whatever she wanted, it was hers. No questions asked.

And now she is wanting Joseph, her husband’s slave.

She makes her desires clear from the very beginning. Her mannerisms and friendly gestures aren’t lost on him. He says to himself, “Every time I turn around, this woman is here talking and flirting with me.” He goes to one section of his master’s house to tend to his duties, and there she is two minutes later. There is nothing inconspicuous about her advances. This woman clearly wants him to look after her needs too, even if they are intimate and sinful in nature. And the more he denies her, the more she desires him. And then the day comes when she catches him alone in the house with no one around, just him and her. Perhaps she had even thought this out ahead of time, dismissing the remaining household staff for the day in her plot to fulfill her fantasies.

“Take me to bed, Joseph. This will be just our little secret. No one will ever know.”

Every situation Joseph has been thrown into, God has protected him. Surely he would’ve died long before this day had it not been for his brother, Reuben. And although he ended up being sold to slave traders by his brothers, God spared him from a life of hard labor and set him into a wealthy man’s house as his servant, entrusting him with everything.

And now, Joseph faces a defining moment. He’s in a situation that he himself has control over. Will he ignore all that God has done for him and fall into the trap? Surely, no mortal man could blame him if he does. After all that he’s been through? Doesn’t he deserve some means of a reward? Besides, surely no one will ever know.

But Joseph knows that God will know. The foundation of his identity, his unwavering trust in God, has never left him. “No. I will not do this. I will not defile myself in this way. I will not deny my God.” Over and over, after each and every advance by this evil temptress, Joseph responds with “No!”

Not once did Joseph ever play with the thought of taking this woman to bed. He refused to allow his mind to wander. While he couldn’t avoid the tempting situation, he could avoid giving into it. And that took much more courage than giving way to sin.

Years ago, I was watching television and an advertisement came on about a nice luxury car. It was really nice and sporty, leather seats, roomy interior, and the car was hugging the corners of a scenic highway and a beautiful sunset in the backdrop.

I was there. In that moment, I was driving that car. And so I spent the remainder of the evening thinking about that car.

The following day I went to a local dealership that sells that car. I took it out for a test-drive. An hour later, I was signing the papers agreeing to the conditions of the loan. And I drove that car home that evening.

I didn’t need the new car. What’s more, I really couldn’t afford the new car. But now it’s parked in my driveway. In hardly no time at all I got behind on the payments. And not even six months later, I was having to turn it back over to the dealership in exchange for a lesser car that was older and more rundown than the reliable car I had traded in for it originally. All because I allowed my mind to wander and mentally caved in to a thought.

We are not immune to the occasional thoughts of the flesh. But we are wise in those moments to take our thoughts captive. Otherwise we will justify a decision that we ultimately end up regretting before God.

This is always the way of sin. It promises us everything, and takes us deeper than we want to go. Then it keeps us there longer than we want to stay, and ends up costing us more than we could ever afford to pay.