Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Friday, September 14, 2018 | Topic: Conscience 124
Scripture: And when they saw Joseph afar off, even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to slay him. Genesis 37:18
Note: There are great lessons to be learnt from the life of Joseph in the house of Potiphar, especially for young men and women. Joseph was a young man, a teenager and owned by Potiphar. He was a slave, yet, he endeared himself so well from that low position to become the head steward in charge of the whole house as well as the business holdings of Potiphar beyond the household. In the citation to his elevation, Joseph was described as a goodly person and well favoured (Gen 39:6).
Favour is good as it’s a blessing from God. What favour does is to place one in the limelight. The person becomes visible to all, as a distinguished person of honour. However, in becoming the cynosure of all eyes, favour exposes one’s attractiveness to all shades of people who may have their varied and parochial interest they want to pursue, having you on their side as being critical to achieving their goals; for all the right or wrong reasons. Favour places you on a higher pedestal above the crowd, and that new level comes with its own form of new devils.
Joseph was not a target of Potiphar’s wife’s seducing advances during the period when he was just like any of the other servants in the house. He wasn’t that attractive, although he was the same person physically before his elevation. Joseph’s elevation however, changed the way he was seen or viewed by others, including Potiphar’s wife. His elevation came with new perks, privileges and power. These are all attractive to the opposite sex. These enumerated advantages help to amplify one’s personality and magnetic pull from the opposite sex.
Joseph was already handsome in form and appearance. Yet these powerful attributes alone and on their own, weren’t sufficiently strong to make him visible for attraction from the opposite sex. Low positions and low power lack the capacity to influence attraction significantly. Conventional knowledge of our time teaches that women are more attracted to touch while men are more attracted to what they see. However, lust is a vice of corruption that has no respect for gender. Joseph’s handsome form and appearance became more visible to Potiphar’s wife on his elevation, as she cast her eyes on him, and she began strategising on how best she could trap him into sleeping with her (Gen 39:6,7).
Food for thought: Lust has an addictive attachment to the wrong things we see and hear. Cutting off the wrongs we see and hear will starve our lust to death.
Declaration: For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. 2Pet 2:8
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
