June 11
“Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)
Our next Resist Temptation When It Comes principle, our next “Resisting” principle, is obvious, but it is one that we don’t do so very well at times. This principle, RETREAT immediately from sources of temptation: FLEE! This principle deals with the obvious concept that if something is tempting to you, get away from it if at all possible. Remove yourself from it or remove the thing from you. It sounds simple, and most of the time it is simple, but not always easy to do.
Joseph did this brilliantly when he fled the adulterous advances of Potiphar’s wife; he just took off running. He made haste to get out of that situation, away from her seductive presence and words, even to the point where he left his cloak behind. Notice that Joseph did not reason to himself, “I am able to resist this temptation. I have done it many times before, and I can do it again.” He did not try to reason with her, as he had already done that on a prior occasion, presumably many days before (Genesis 39:8-9). He did not apologize for his rudeness. He recognized that the situation on that day was particularly dangerous to him because none of the other men were with him in the house (Genesis 39:11). There were no witnesses, no one to give moral support for resisting, no one to corroborate his side of the story if anything happened.
Joseph recognized that it was particularly dangerous to him to remain there, more so than at other times, and he just got out of there fast. He took immediate action on what he knew God would want him to do and what was in his own best interest. He was clear minded, and he was single minded. He certainly was not double minded, as we often are toward sin, thinking about it and letting the thought of it grow stronger in our hearts.
Keep in mind that Joseph had a lot of time during the many days of Potiphar’s wife’s temptations to justify to himself why it was okay for him to indulge in the sin; he was very clever and could have figured out ways to do so unnoticed. But that is not what Joseph was about. He was about being faithful to God and his earthly master. Faithfulness mattered more to Joseph than pleasure. Joseph was already practicing the principle we just finished discussing regarding refusing temptation immediately, decisively, and persistently. He practiced it in his mind every time the temptation presented itself. Then, when faced with this particularly dangerous set of circumstances, he was fully prepared to flee. And that he did.
How about you? What are the temptations that you face? Are you refusing them in your mind during the day so that you can flee from them immediately if ever they catch you by surprise? Or are you making excuses for yourself and arguing with yourself that you should be allowed to indulge the sin, and even worse, making provision for the sin so that you can indulge in it when no one is looking?
Be like Joseph! Don’t think, just act! Don’t argue or entertain or reason, just FLEE from the things that tempt you.