Our Choices Matter

But he refused. Genesis 39:8

A swimming instructor in New Jersey saw a car sinking into Newark Bay and heard the driver inside screaming “I can’t swim” as his SUV quickly sank into the murky waters. As a crowd watched from shore, Anthony ran to the rocks along the edge, removed his prosthetic leg, and jumped in to rescue the sixty-eight-year-old man and help him safely to shore. Thanks to Anthony’s decisive action, another man was saved. Our choices matter. Consider the patriarch Jacob, the father of many sons, who openly favored his seventeen-year-old son Joseph. He foolishly made Joseph “an ornate robe” (Genesis 37:3). The result? Joseph’s brothers hated him (v. 4); and when the opportunity arose, they sold him into slavery (v. 28). Yet because Joseph ended up in Egypt, God used him to preserve Jacob’s family and many others during a seven-year famine—despite Joseph’s brothers’ intention to harm him (see 50:20). The choice that set it all in motion was Joseph’s decision to be honorable and run from Potiphar’s wife (39:1–12). The result was prison (39:20) and an eventual meeting with Pharaoh (ch. 41). Anthony may have had the advantage of training, but he still had to make a choice. When we love God and seek to serve Him, He helps us make life-affirming and God-honoring choices. If we haven’t already, we can begin by trusting Jesus. By Alyson Kieda REFLECT & PRAY What was the result of a recent choice you’ve made? How has God’s Spirit led you to make wise choices? Dear God, help me to make wise decisions that honor You.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

When dealing with sexual temptation, Scripture calls for prompt, decisive action. Joseph “ran out of the house” (Genesis 39:12) when confronted by Potiphar’s wife. In the New Testament, Paul says to “put to death . . . whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust” (Colossians 3:5). He also says to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). We’re to renounce all sexual sins because they directly attack our own bodies which “are temples of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19) and this violates the sacred sanctuary of God’s holy presence (vv. 19–20; see 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–4).

K. T. Sim