April 2, 2024 - Genesis 39:6b-9

“Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded. But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”” Genesis 39:6b-9 NLT

Lord, we want to be like Joseph. We want to choose to honor you no matter what the cost is. He chose to honor you here and yet, if we keep reading, we see he was punished for the sin, even though he ran from it. Lord, it wasn’t fair, but even in that place of injustice, he didn’t get mad at you and turn from you. We see that even in the prison you continued to use him and blessed him. Make us more like him. When unjust things happen in our lives that we don’t deserve, do we complain and get upset at you, or do we trust you and keep serving you wholeheartedly? Help us not to fall short, but to stay loyal to you.

Lord, help us to always choose to live a life of integrity. We so often fall short of this desire. In those moments during the day when our friends are gossiping or slandering another, maybe we don’t add to it, but do we stand for integrity and stand up against that sin? In those moments when it is easy just to get lost in the crowd rather than stand up for you, what do we choose? Do we choose integrity in those moments? Oh Lord, forgive us for when we have failed you. Help us change. Make our desire to please you more than a desire, but something we take seriously and actually live. Make us more like Joseph. Transform us. Help us choose the high road regardless of the cost. Help us learn to trust that you will be with us and bless us even when the cost is high.

In Jesus name, amen.