RUN!!!

“And after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.” 

~Genesis 39:7-12

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you should just walk away but because the end result sounded so great, you didn’t? It could’ve been the offer of money or a good time, something that appealed to your senses, yet somewhere inside, that little voice of reason kept warning you to get out, instead you ignored it and wound up wishing you hadn’t. I’ve been there. I’ve done the wrong thing because it either offered something I thought I wanted, or because I didn’t want those around me to think I was weak or afraid. I heard that voice inside and told it to shut up and leave me alone, only to regret it later. Seduction is a heady feeling and appeals to all our mortal senses. It makes us feel included, liked, special, and part of something. It appeals to our most base senses and it’s one of the devil’s greatest tools.

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's (Exodus 20:17).”

If there’s one commandment I’ve broken, it’s been the one above. So, what does it mean to covet? Simply, it means to want something someone else has. It’s a yearning, or desire to have something, which leads to doing anything to obtain it. How do we first covet? With our eyes. We covet what we see every day. Whether it’s our neighbors big house with a pool, the ’57 T-Bird they drive, the gold and diamonds they hang on their necks, the furs draped over their shoulders, we covet what we see. It’s the whole “keeping up with the Joneses” deal that’s been going on since Cain killed Abel. It’s what happened to Jesus when the devil took Him on the pinnacle of the temple and showed Him all the riches of the world and offered to give them to Jesus if He just bowed before satan (Luke 4:5). Covetousness grows into lust and lust becomes unbearable until we give in and go after the object of our desire. People throw away their marriages from lusting after another person; they gamble away their savings lusting after more money; they throw away their lives lusting after drugs and alcohol, and it all begins with that little seed of desire that we allow to take root when we ignore the voice that says, “RUN!”

“For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness (1 Timothy 6:7-11).”

Read Isaiah 18-23

Weekend reading Isaiah 24-30

©2018 Marie McGaha