"He left his garment in her hand, and fled,
and got him out."
Genesis 39:12
Genesis 39:12
In
contending with certain sins there remains no mode of victory but by flight.
The ancient naturalists wrote much of basilisks, whose eyes fascinated their
victims and rendered them easy victims; so the mere gaze of wickedness puts us
in solemn danger. He who would be safe from acts of evil must haste away from
occasions of it. A covenant must be made with our eyes not even to look upon
the cause of temptation, for such sins only need a spark to begin with and a
blaze follows in an instant.
Who
would wantonly enter the leper's prison and sleep amid its horrible corruption?
He only who desires to be leprous himself would thus court contagion. If the
mariner knew how to avoid a storm, he would do anything rather than run the
risk of weathering it. Cautious pilots have no desire to try how near the
quicksand they can sail, or how often they may touch a rock without springing a
leak; their aim is to keep as nearly as possible in the midst of a safe
channel. This
day I may be exposed to great peril, let me have the serpent's wisdom to keep
out of it and avoid it.
The
wings of a dove may be of more use to me to-day than the jaws of a lion. It is
true I may be an apparent loser by declining evil company, but I had better
leave my cloak than lose my character; it is not needful that I should be rich,
but it is imperative upon me to be pure. No ties of friendship, no chains of
beauty, no flashings of talent, and no shafts of ridicule must turn me from the
wise resolve to flee from sin.
The
devil I am to resist and he will flee from me, but the lusts of the flesh, I must flee, or they will surely
overcome me. O God of holiness preserve
thy Josephs, that Madam Bubble bewitch them not with her vile suggestions. May
the horrible trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil, will never
overcome us!
God
bless,
David
L. Wynn, Pastor
Pauline
B. Grant CME Church
“This
is the Potter’s House”
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