GENESIS 39:1-10 – Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.”

THEME OF THE DAY: DISPLAYING LOVE FOR JESUS.  We were originally created, then re-created in Christ Jesus for one chief purpose.  This purpose is found in what Jesus calls the Great Commandment – “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment (Matthew 22:36-38).  What is the evidence we are fulfilling our purpose?  Two ways.

First is the pursuit of obeying all our Lord’s commands.  Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Obviously, this is not a perfect obedience, but it is a purposeful, consistent, and progressing obedience.  If we are to make any claims of loving the Lord, then our lives must reflect a life of obedience.  To merely profess, “I love you, Lord” without the evidence of Biblical obedience marking our lives is self-deception.  Remember the words of James – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22). But there is another way we display our love for the Lord. It is modeled by Joseph in today’s scripture.  Take time and read again the account.  As you do, identify what Joseph did when propositioned by Potiphar’s wife.

Joseph demonstrated love for God by refusing to sin. He would not compromise his purity despite the tremendous pressure put upon him.  Love for the Lord is by positive conformity to His commands, and by restraint, refusing to disobey commands.

So, the Christian life is a life of loving God consistently, exercising positive commands to known commands and consistently exercising negative restraint by saying “no” to sin.

PRAYER: “Father, may I show love for You not only in obeying commands but refusing sin.”

QUOTE: “To say ‘no’ to sin for the sake of not offending God is a great display of love for Him.”

In the affection of Christ Jesus,

Pastor Jim