"But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? -- Luke 14: 28 (NLT)
Even though this verse is from counting the cost of being a disciple the principle remains the same. Allow me to save you some time -- you can put away your calculators. We can never afford the cost that is attached to sin. Never. Sure we might get away with something here or there but remember that God sees everything. The Bible says we will be held to account for every careless word, let alone deed. What we do in the dark, God will bring into the light. I would think that the vast majority of people who committed adultery would not have fell if they had counted the cost of everything they lost because of it. But we are generally not appreciative to begin with and therein lies the problem. There is a saying that says Jesus won't mean everything to you until He is all you have. Don't live by that saying. Count your blessings now. Value them dearly. Then when sin comes knocking -- count the cost!
The second key from these verses is to always reflect to God. The first key was what the sin will cost us temporally but now Joseph reflects eternally. He tells Potiphar's wife what a great sin he would be committing if he were to go through with it. Let us stop here for a second and realize that at this point, Joseph is a 17 year old male with the same raging hormones that 17 year old males have today. He is not some plaster saint. He was a real person. Yet despite what he might have felt and desired, he properly reflects upon what is being considered as sin. He now counts the cost eternally.
If we were to be honest we do not classify our sin so easily do we? We find excuses for it. We dress it up in pseudo-righteousness. Heck, we even wrap it up in Christ to suit ourselves sometimes. We spread gossip by pretending to be concerned that someone needs prayer. Again, this is a direct offshoot of the bless me theology which downplays sin. If you are not being taught about sin and you do not consider it then it is no wonder that we will seek to minimize it as much as possible in our lives. For example, the adulterous affair started as "innocent flirting." There is nothing innocent about flirting if you are married! Sin is sin. It does not matter if you dress it up, turn a blind eye to it, or proclaim it in the name of Jesus -- it will still be sin at the end of the day. It still will have an eternal cost. Look at the rebuke to David from God after the Bathsheba sin:
Then Nathan said to David, "You are that man! The Lord , the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master's house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah's wife to be your own. "This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel." -- 2Samuel 11: 7-12 (NLT)
You can hear the disappointment in God's voice through the Prophet Nathan. David, David, David - why didn't you count the cost? Why didn't you appreciate everything I had given you and trust that I would have given you even more? Now David, I am sorry but there is a price that you will have to pay. I still love you, but what you sow -- you will indeed reap. Meanwhile, back to the story of Joseph we see the next key to victory in the next verse:
She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. -- Genesis 39: 10 (NLT)
Note here that Joseph kept out of her way as much as possible. He worked in the house that she lived in but he recognized where this was heading. He correctly has assessed the cost but now he has correctly assessed the danger. If he is to remain true and avoid this sin that keeps accosting him, Joseph tries his level best to avoid the situation that could lead to him falling. This is so crucial in our walks as well. We need to avoid the situations that can lead to sin. We know what they are. As a born again believer we do not have a place at the bar during happy hour. Light has no fellowship with darkness. That woman who wants to playfully flirt with you in the office needs to be avoided and if you can't -- you need to talk to her about your wife as much as possible! We fancy ourselves stronger than we really are -- it is all pride. We are not strong because of three things. One we live in a world that is fallen and depraved. Secondly we live in our flesh which wars against anything holy. Lastly, we have an enemy to our souls who never sleeps and is looking to destroy us. But by the grace of God go I. Remember what God said to Paul -- when we are truly weak -- then God can be strong in our lives. We need to remember this beloved. We are weak, sin is strong, God is stronger.
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. -- John 6: 63 (NIV)
