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??"Here's a strong young man who'll make a hardworking slave for someone! Who will give me a good price for him？"
??"I'll take him!" said an important looking man in the crowd.
??With that, Potiphar, an important officer for the King of Egypt, paid for Joseph and led him away. Joseph, the favorite son of his old father, sold by his brothers, was now in a land of strangers facing a life of misery and slavery. Would he feel sorry for himself and complain？Do you suppose he refuse to obey？NO! Joseph did his work just as diligently as if he were doing it for his own father. He worked hard and the Bible says that the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did!
??And you can believe Joseph's master noticed that! Potiphar could not help but appreciate the cheerful attitude of this Hebrew boy, his humble and quiet way, his serious attention to his work. Soon, Joseph began to be promoted, then again, and again, until Potiphar finally turned over everything he had to Joseph's keeping. Potiphar saw God's hand on Joseph's life, because everything he gave Joseph to do brought a profit to Potiphar!
??But someone else was taking close notice of Joseph too. Joseph was now about 27 years old, and the Bible describe him as a handsome man. Potiphar's wife had an evil heart, and she began to try to get Joseph to notice her. She said things to him to try to get Joseph to sin against God.
??Really, boys and girls, all sin is against God. Sin is breaking God's laws. We sin by wanting what belongs to others. When we try to get others to do wrong, that is sin. Disobeying our parents is sin. Romans 3：l0 says "There is none righteous, no, not one." The truth is we were all born with sin. For those of who continue in that sin and do not believe in the Lord Jesus, there is an everlasting punishment for that sin. Do you know what that punishment will be？Well it's said that we can never be in Heaven with God. How do you think God feels about that？You can be sure that is not what He wants for anyone!
??The Bible tells us that our l00% perfect God not only created this world and everyone in it, but He richly loves each person in it! God says it is not His will that any should perish, or be punished forever for their sin. So God made a wonderful plan that our sins could be forgiven and we could be SAVED from that dreadful punishment. God's plan was to send His perfect and darling Son the Lord Jesus Christ to take our punishment for us. Jesus left His splendid home in Heaven, to willingly come to this sin filled earth, willingly let wicked men nail His hands and feet to a cross, and willingly give His blood to pay for our sin. Can you understand that kind of unselfish love？No, but we can enjoy the wonderful blessing of it! For after Jesus died, in 3 days He came alive again. He's in Heaven now and God says in Romans l0：l3, "For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." By believing in Jesus the Lord, we can enjoy the wonderful blessing of being free from that punishment of sin.
??Remember, all sin is against God. What Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph to do would truly be a sin against God. She wanted him to be with her as only her husband should be with her. And she told Joseph so. She was probably a very pretty woman, and perhaps Joseph was very tempted to do this wrong thing. After all, he was no doubt lonely. When everyone celebrated holidays and birthdays with their family, Joseph had no one. And he was at an age when he would like to have a wife like other men. But Joseph knew he could not give in to temptation. He belonged to God! It was a hard decision, but Joseph said, "No! "
??II Timothy 2：22 tell us to run from evil desires. Ask God for strength to SAY NO to temptation, even though it may be hard! No doubt it was hard for Joseph, but he said NO to Potiphar's wife. The Bible says in Genesis 39：8-9 that Joseph said, "Listen, my master trusts me so much he has committed all that he has to my hand, he doesn't even keep up with what I am doing. There is no one greater in this house than I am, and the only thing my master has kept from me is you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God？"
??But boys and girls, this was an evil woman and she did not give up. If only Satan would just tempt us once and when we said the first NO, he would run away and give up.
??But our enemy is not like that, and he was working day after day through this beautiful but evil woman to ruin Joseph. Joseph refused to listen to her, and no doubt tried to avoid her as much as possible.
??But one day Joseph had some work to do in Potiphar's house. None of the men of the house were there, only Potiphar's wife. Boys and girls, you can be sure she was ready to tempt Joseph. She took hold of Joseph's coat and begged him to be with her. Joseph did the right thing! He slipped right out of that coat and left it in her hands as he RAN out of that house! Sometimes the only way to get away from temptation is to RUN! Remember, if you are God's child, you can ask God for strength to SAY NO to temptation, and that may mean to use your legs to RUN!
??Joseph didn't just stand back, he ran completely out of the house! And there stood a very foolish looking Potiphar's wife, holding a man's coat! But oh, was she furious! Joseph had hurt her pride and she was angry. She decided to get even with him. She called some of the other servants and told them a big lie about Joseph. The Bible doesn't say if they believed her or not, but anyway.... when Master Potiphar got home, she really had a big lie ready. "That Hebrew servant you brought in here came today and tried to attack me.
??But I screamed and he got so scared, he ran out and left his coat behind."
??God's Word says in Genesis 39：l9 and 20, "And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, that his anger was stirred up, and Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound." Boys and girls, slaves had neither right nor chance to defend themselves. So Joseph, though he was honorable and innocent, found himself in a dark, dirty dungeon, perhaps bound with chains about his feet and neck.
??What a reward for doing the right thing! Perhaps he might have felt that way. But to end this lesson, we must read Genesis 39：2l："But the LORD was with Joseph." What will happen to him？You will have to wait till next time to find out, but we do know the LORD was taking care of Joseph.
