Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Suppose you didn't choose to seek temptation by walking on Satan's ground, but suddenly it confronts you. It may come to you from a thousand directions. What Jesus described as "looking" worries you and you wonder about that "sin in the heart."
Here is Good News. That was Joseph's problem in Potiphar's house in Egypt. He wasn't looking for temptation, but it came. At the age of 17 or so, Joseph had committed himself totally to the Lord because he understood the New Covenant promises. He was not in fear, desperately trying to hold on to God's hand--God was holding him by the hand, and the Savior kept him from falling into a sudden, alluring temptation. He ran.
You prepare ahead of time as he did by giving yourself to the Savior. Don't worry; He won't forget you. His much more abounding grace will "teach [you] to say No!" and run (see Titus 2:11, 12, NIV).
Joseph alone in pagan Egypt was surrounded by a constant atmosphere like Sodom and Gomorrah. One wise writer tells us that he was as one who saw and heard not. It wasn't fear; he was living under the New Covenant and the Lord had written His ten commandments' "law of liberty" on his heart.
Now praise Him that He has done the same for you. Walk softly, be humble, you "need Him every hour." If Christ has saved you from committing infidelity, you can praise Him throughout eternity, starting now. Thank Him for the mind of Christ. And if you have stumbled and fallen, receive His already-given gift of repentance, as David received the gift (Psalm 51). Don't water it down into pious lukewarmness.
Tell others that He has saved you. That's what it means to "witness" for Him.
As High Priest He is even now sealing His people (Rev. 14:1-5). Don't resist Him in His office work. He has business to do; let Him do it in your heart.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 9, 2003.
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