She came and grabbed him by his shirt, demanding, "Sleep with me!" Joseph tore himself away.

A man who fled from temptation

Like cream, Joseph rose to the top. Each time he tackled temptation, he thrived. He was the next-to-last son of Jacob, but the first son of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. He had two significant dreams. We don't know how he told his brothers about the dreams, in which they bowed down to him, but they hated him for the content.

His brothers tried to kill him, but sold him into slavery in Egypt. At age 17, Joseph was carried hundreds of miles away to Egypt, where he became a slave. Most people in his situation would have become bitter. Not Joseph. He was a worthy worker. And he rose to the top.

He was "handsome and well-built" (Gen. 39:6), 300 miles from home, and single. That was a set-up for someone like Potiphar's wife. She kept after Joseph "day after day" (Gen. 39:10), but he kept saying no. When she tried one last time (Gen. 39:12), grabbing him by the shirt, Joseph ran off minus his shirt.

The reward for his good conduct was jail. Even there, Joseph rose to the top. After interpreting a dream, Pharaoh made Joseph vice-president of the country. When, twenty years later, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food, they didn't recognize their brother. He resisted the temptation to pay them back for what they had done. But Joseph showed them forgiveness.

Joseph was sold from his father's house, seduced in Potiphar's house, and suffered in a prison houseyet he remained faithful to God. He triumphed over temptation.

adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotionals by the editors of Men of Integrity magazine (Christianity Today, Intl), Tyndale House Publishers (2002), p 53

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House