Run From Sin

Twice this summer I suffered the scourge of stinging nettles. Both times it happened, I was working on clearing away unwanted plant growth from our garden. And both times, I saw the nasty enemy lurking nearby. I figured I could get close to it without it affecting me. Soon enough, I realised I’d been wrong. Instead of getting nearer to my little green nemesis, I should have run the other way!

In the Old Testament story of Joseph, we see modelled the principle of running from something worse than stinging nettles: sin. When he was living in the home of Egyptian official Potiphar, whose wife tried to seduce him, Joseph didn’t try to get close—he ran.

Although she falsely accused him and had him thrown in prison, Joseph remained pure throughout the episode. And as we see in Genesis 39:21, “The Lord was with him.”

God can help us flee activities and situations that could lead us away from Him—guiding us to run the other way when sin is nearby. In 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul writes, “Flee the evil desires.” And in 1 Corinthians 6:18, he says to “flee from sexual immorality.”

In God’s strength, may we choose to run from those things that could harm us. Dave Branon - Daily Bread