TEXT
Genesis 39:1-12
KEY VERSE
“How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:9, KJV
REFLECTION
What must a man forget before he can easily sin?
Look at Joseph. Before temptation ever appears, Scripture has already told us something important: “the LORD was with Joseph.” God prospered his master’s house because of him. Joseph was young, handsome, well-built, successful, trusted, and given responsibility over everything in the house. He had every reason to become impressed with himself.
And then, “after these things,” temptation came.
That detail matters.
Potiphar’s wife says, “Lie with me.” Joseph could have looked at the opportunity and thought about everything he had become. He could have allowed his position, his appearance, his success, or the attention of a powerful woman to make him feel entitled to more.
But Joseph remembers.
He remembers his master’s trust. He remembers what has been placed in his hands. And then he remembers something greater than all of it:
“How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
That is what sin asks us to forget.
It asks us to forget the God who has been good to us. To forget His presence in the difficult season. To forget His mercies. To forget what He has entrusted to us. To forget His plan for us. To forget His Word. To forget that the pleasure being offered to us is not worth turning our backs on the God who has been faithful to us.
This is not so different from what happened in the garden of Eden. God had given Adam and Eve access to every tree of the garden, yet the serpent directed their attention toward the one thing God had forbidden. In the wilderness, Satan tried to turn Jesus’ attention toward immediate satisfaction rather than the will of His Father. Temptation has a way of making us forget the abundance of what God has given and fix our eyes on the one thing He has forbidden.
But Joseph remembered.
The opportunity was there. The temptation was there. Yet Joseph could not forget that the LORD was with him.
Perhaps this is the question we need to carry today:
What does sin want me to forget whenever I am tempted?
And when you know the answer, remember.
Remember His goodness.
Remember His presence.
Remember that the LORD is with you.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Sin becomes easier to entertain when we forget the God who has been good to us.
PRAYER
Lord, when sin tries to narrow my vision, keep Your goodness and Your presence before me.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Read Genesis 39:1-12 slowly. Ask yourself: What truth about God do I become most tempted to forget when I am tempted to sin?
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