Hot, Steaming Sex!

WATCHWORD:

⁶ So, Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, ⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” ⁸ But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. ⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”  ¹⁰ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. Genesis 39:6-10

Meditation:

Hot, Steaming Sex!

Poor Joseph, what is he to do? Here was this very comely woman, inviting him to her bed. No, not inviting, ordering him, Come to bed with me!  Repeatedly, this woman has come on to him, in the privacy of the palace, no one around, no one would know. What was this, well-built and handsome young man to do?  Was this getting too hot for his Hebrew hormones?

How would Joseph resolve this “war” between this temptation and his integrity, his loyalty to God and Potiphar?  A key difference between Joseph’s story and some elements of politics today is Joseph’s integrity. Most of those who fall from power today do so because of their own failings, their own capitulation to corruption, greed, and lust. Joseph, on the other hand, falls from power because he dares to say “No” to corrupting power. He could have had a sweet deal, sleeping with Potiphar’s wife, running his house — Potiphar didn’t need to know. But he decides to take the difficult path — and it leads him to prison. In today’s version of this story, action with integrity may get you “Primary-ed”, with death threats.

As Pastor Robert Jeffress has said, “when temptation comes knocking, we always have a choice.”  And we most certainly can imagine the consequences. The person in today’s world, may suffer: Loss of their job, or the election,. Or the threats directed to your family, which makes the act of integrity even more powerful. For Joseph, he knew that to give in to temptation would be a sin against God. This is where we find the truth in the statement, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Now Potiphar’s wife has taken Joseph’s garment in order to perpetuate a deception that will land Joseph in prison … again. For a guy whom we are told. repeatedly, that God favors, he has a pretty hard life. His clothes testify falsely against him; they are seemingly definitive evidence, interpreted to deceive.

Potiphar has doubts about Joseph’s guilt, nevertheless, the young man ends up in prison and adds his name to a remarkable list of biblical figures who are falsely imprisoned, including Jeremiah, Daniel, Peter, Paul, to name just a few.

In the end, Joseph’s integrity wins out. His story is as close to us as many of the highly visible, disgraceful, national moments. It would be several years until Joseph is restored to his previous position. God is at work in the lives of those who act courageously in the face of great temptation and seemingly hopeless situations. God’s plan and God’s timing. The lesson here is pretty obvious, isn’t it?  Amen.

Bulletin Board:

I’m Sorry!  Because of my error in setting up yesterday’s Watchword, it did not arrive in your e-mail. It is on my website, Bosworth30.com, click on Watchwords, Monday, January 17 – Water Walking”. Once again, sorry for the omission. Enjoy your Tuesday.  Stan

Closing Prayer:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness

Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

Amen