A Time of Reckoning

I've been reading through the book of Genesis and have come upon the story of Joseph. Such an amazing fellow, he is. There are a couple of things to note.

The first comes from Joseph's run-in with Potiphar's wife. A beautiful and powerful woman, she invited him to have sexual relations with her, but he ran away lest he sin. Thinking about it, that just doesn't make much sense. Joseph - servant. Potiphar's wife - beautiful, rich. Joseph - handsome, maybe hormones raging. Yet he ran from sin.

I wonder myself how easy it is to keep sin so close and to indulge it. Maybe not even necessarilly in the area of lust/sexual sin. How easy it is to merely admire the beauty of things that we know are wrong, but like to keep around because they satisfy some desire in our life.

The second point that I really found encouraging is something that Joseph said in response to Pharaoh. Pharoah had some dreams that he did not understand and summoned Joseph to interpret them. However, in Genesis 41:16, Joseph says, "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharoah, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."

Wow... There are a couple of points I glean from that statemement. Joseph first recognizes his own ability to interpret divine revelation. He recognizes his own inadequacy and lack of wisdom to do so. This, despite having every reason to be self-confident. He had interpreted dreams before. Now, the Pharaoh of all of Egypt was seeking HIS counsel. Yet, he was humble throughout all of this. Second, Joseph recognizes that God is the source of revelation and the wisdom gained from it. God is the interpreter and the giver of wisdom, and Joseph merely the conduit through which God speaks.

That's pretty amazing to me, and such a good lesson. Though we may have every earthly reason to be self-confident and assured in our intelligence, that confidence is sorely misplaced. However, recognition of God first allows us to be used by Him, ultimately for HIS glory.