PRICE FOR GOD’S GIFTS AND INTEGRITY: Devotion for Thursday May 19, 2016
Text: Genesis 39:7 – 19 Memory verse: v 19
God has never made mistake in blessing us. The way some people abuse these blessings and gifts, gives me cause for concern. If we abuse our gifts, we will pay dearly for it. Our beauty, blessings and gifts are snare to us because they will either make us or mar us. It forbids pride in it, and requires constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends it. On the other hand, we should have full control over our eyes, lest they infect our hearts. Potiphar’s wife couldn’t set off her eyes from Joseph in her husband’s house, lusting after Joseph (39:7). Because Joseph a handsome young man of honesty and integrity, he became a snare to Potiphar’s wife but he refused to consent to her request, frame up against him. He was subsequently imprisoned.
The frame up and imprisonment was the price Joseph paid for the gift of God in him. Many people have paid similar prices. Some fell into the hands of the devil and his agents. Some after the fall could not even summon courage to rise again. There is nobody gifted by God in terms of beauty, being handsome, intelligent, talented, etc, that hasn’t been tempted or will not be tempted. What matters is what should be your stand when tempted. Will you yield to their temptation because you want to avoid going to prison, being punished, etc? There is somebody using this devotion, who out of fear of being punished, refused to speak the truth as Potiphar’s wife did and somebody is suffering today. God requires you to go and make necessary restitutions. Despite the price Joseph paid, God was with him and he was loved and privileged above all other prisoners.
Food for Thought: Every gift and blessings from God has a price tag.
Prayer: Grant me the grace I need, O God, never to abuse your gift upon my life or become a stumbling block to other people because of their gifts.
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