Genesis 39:10 (NIV) And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

I have had the opportunity to counsel with many, many believers who have needed guidance for their lives. A good number of those people’s issue was their struggle with sin. It is a fight to the finish when it comes to sin because the flesh is insatiable. It can never get enough and what it craves is sinful things. If you have not dealt properly with your flesh (your sinful nature), then you will have a fleshly appetite, which is an inner desire to satisfy your sinful hunger. That sinful hunger can get you into all types of horrible situations and circumstances and can make you a slave to things that are offensive to God and damaging to your soul. We must learn how to battle this deadly condition that can and will ruin your life.

In studying the life of Joseph, we come across the story of when he was a slave in the house of Potiphar, an Egyptian official. Since God was with Joseph, he prospered in everything that he did. When Potiphar, noticed this, he decided to put his household and everything he owned in Joseph’s care. Everything was going well, except for the fact that Potiphar’s wayward wife got infatuated with Joseph and wanted him to sleep with her. Joseph, being a godly man who feared the Lord, refused. But the Bible tells us that he not only refused to sleep with her, but he refused to even be with her, and therein lies one of the secrets of not falling prey to your sinful nature.

One of the things that I have discovered, not only from my time counseling with people but also from my own life, is that many of us like to flirt with the line of sin, thinking that we can control ourselves and not go over the line. Nothing is further from the truth. If you think that way, you have been deceived into thinking that you can master your flesh. There is no mastering the flesh. The only way to control the flesh is to put it to death and that’s what Joseph was doing by refusing to even be with Potiphar’s wife. I would venture to guess that since Potiphar was an important official in Pharoah’s court, his wife must have been beautiful. While Joseph had the spiritual discipline to refuse her a few times, he must have known that a constant barrage of a beautiful woman’s attempt to be intimate with him would at some point break him down. So he did what the Word of God tells us to do and that is to flee (2 Timothy 2:22). He was wise enough to not put his trust in his ability to resist, but instead to avoid it altogether, and he kept himself from sinning against God and against Potiphar because of it.

I believe that we like to approach the line of sin because it is titillating to our flesh. There is an unholy thrill that people get when the prospect of satisfying their flesh is presented. I also believe that most people who fall into sin in those situations believed that they wouldn’t give in. But most people who toy with their flesh wind up losing and many times paying a heavy price for it. Learn a lesson from Joseph and put no confidence in the flesh as the Word of God says (Philippians 3:3). If you are spiritually healthy, then thank Jesus for that strength. But if you want to stay spiritually healthy, then learn to fight sin in the best way that exists, and that is by avoiding it altogether.

Pastor Joey Vazquez