stay busy and tell it the truth…

find out how to resist temptation.  joseph gives us some lessons. 

1.  stay busy in the master’s business.  if you want to resist temptation, stay busy doing what GOD gave you to do.  for joseph that meant staying busy serving potiphar.  he didn’t have any time to sin with potiphar’s wife.  temptation becomes overwhelming when we stop doing GOD’s will.  as soon as you stop doing what GOD wants you to do, temptation just starts to overwhelm you.  stay busy doing what GOD’s given you to do. 

2.  tell the temptation the truth.  talk to your temptation!  tell it the truth.  look at the temptation joseph faced. 

genesis 39.6b-9 (niv), 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.”  [how old was joseph?  17, 18? 19? – a young man.] 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.  no one is greater in this house than i am.  my master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife.  [then he told the temptation the truth.]  how then could i do such a wicked thing and sin against GOD.”

he just looked it straight in the eye and said, “this is the truth.  this is a wicked thing.  this is a sin against GOD.”

temptation comes and says, “why don't you cheat on your wife?  it would be so exciting.  it would make you happy.  it’s what you really need.” 

tell it the truth.  look it right in the eye and tell it the truth and say, “are you kidding me?  that’s a wicked thing.  that’s going to tear me apart.  that’s going to tear my family apart.  that’s going to tear my faith apart.  how could i do that?”  tell it the truth. 

temptation comes to you and says, “you deserve it.  you’ve had a tough week.  go out and get drunk this friday.  you need it.  you need to relax.”  tell it the truth.  look it straight in the face and say, “that just makes my life empty.  that just makes me sick the next day.”  tell temptation the truth.

temptation comes to you and says, “you’re in a little trap here.  you’ve got a little problem.  the easiest way out of this is tell a lie.  that’ll get you right out of it.  you won’t have to deal with any hassles.  just lie.  that will work.”  tell the temptation the truth.  “every time i lie it puts a barrier between me and the people that i love the most and the LORD that i love.”  tell it the truth.

just a thought from the front porch…