RUN!

But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. – Genesis 39v11-12

Dealing with sin is something that we all have to do every day. There are loads of books and seminars and websites and discussion groups and studies on how to deal with sin. Joseph did not have any of that, but he did have an answer.

For some guys Joseph was in a dream situation. He was working in Potiphar’s home and no one was there but Mrs Potiphar. She had taken a liking to Joseph and wanted to take things a little further. Joseph would have had every excuse in the world. All alone with Mrs Potiphar and, after all, he was a servant to had to do what he was told to do, right?

Not in Joseph’s mind. He had more character than that. When confronted with a sin that was surely so tempting he did the one thing that always works when it comes to a chance. He fled, and in the marvellous King James wording, ‘got him out!’

That’s right. He didn’t try to reason or figure it out. He didn’t try to show how strong he was. He ran, got out, fled, hightailed it, scattered, got his rear in gear, and moved away as fast as he could. No pausing, no lingering, not trying to figure it out – he just ran.

I have to wonder how much better off we would all be if we dealt with sin the same way that Joseph did?