White as Snow
By Grant Gaines
Everybody knows that one person who has a phobia against germs. They always wash their hands before, during, and after they eat, go to the bathroom, or touch anything that could be even remotely dirty. Maybe you’re that person. But no one takes the germ phobia to quite the same level as the artic ermine.
Artic ermines are small, adorable creatures that live in cold climates (as their name suggests). Despite the fact that these little guys can kill predators much larger than them and are some of the most stealth animals in the animal kingdom, they can be easily caught by simply using dirt. You see, artic ermines have a beautiful, pure white coat that allows them to blend seamlessly into the fresh snow that makes up their ecosystem. This pure white camouflage is so vital to the ermines’ survival that they will do anything to keep their coats clean.
It didn’t take too long for trappers to realize this fatal flaw in ermines’ natural instincts as well. So rather than hunting, chasing, or corralling this sneaky creature, trappers simply sprinkled dirt around the ermine’s hole in the snow and waited for the creature to walk by. At that point the trappers would chase the little guys back to their hole. But rather than running through the dirt to go into the hole, the ermines would stop dead in their tracks until the trapper would be able to easily capture the ermines with no problems at all. The ermines would rather be clean and dead than get a little dirt on their coats. They would rather die than allow themselves to become tarnished.
How cool would it be if the same could be said about us? That we would rather die than tarnish our integrity and reputation. That we would rather get fired from work than to go to a shady restaurant to land that big deal. That we would rather lose some friends by saying “no” than lose our saltiness (Matthew 5:13). That we would rather offend man than offend God.
This is what the Lord calls us to in Ephesians 5:3 (NIV, italics mine) when He instructs us to not have, “…even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, for these are improper for God’s holy people.”
Not even a hint? That’s right-not even a trace of any sin in our lives. That’s the high calling of our High Priest (Hebrews 4). Is it a difficult calling? Yes. Is it a possible calling? Only with the help of God…just ask Joseph.
Joseph was the 11th of Jacob’s 12 sons but held a special place in his father’s heart. If you’ll think back to Genesis 30 with me for a moment, you’ll remember that because of some crafty deception by his father-in-law and a few too many drinks on his wedding night, Joseph’s father Jacob accidentally married two women-Leah and her sister Rachel. Rachel was the wife he truly loved while Leah was his “mistake.” But the Lord blessed Leah with the ability to bear Jacob son’s while he closed Rachel’s womb for quite some time. Eventually, however, God allowed Rachel to conceive and she gave Jacob two sons, Joseph and Benjamin.
This made Joseph a prized possession to his father. Joseph was the firstborn son of the woman Jacob truly loved. And Jacob had no trouble displaying his favoritism of Joseph to his other sons. The Scriptures seem to indicate that Jacob made it a habit of bragging on Joseph and lavishing him with luxurious gifts in front of all of his other sons which obviously made them rather jealous.
This jealously grew and grew like a raging forest fire to the point where the brothers decided that the only thing that would keep them from killing Joseph in cold blood was to sell him to some foreign merchants. This plan accomplished two things for the brothers: not only could they get rid of their pesky little brother, Joseph, but they also figured by selling him they would be able to make some cash on the side and not live with the guilt of murder for the rest of their lives (Genesis 37).
Joseph was passed around on the slave market like a hot potato and eventually landed in an Egyptian official’s house named Potiphar where Joseph thrived as he wholeheartedly served the Lord despite his difficult situation.
Potiphar’s wife began to take notice not only of Joseph’s incredible ability to serve but also his boyish charm as he would come in and out of their estate. She was so infatuated with his looks that she begged him to come sleep with her.
“But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?'” (Genesis 39:8-9, NIV).
But like a rubber band, this woman just bouncing back time and time again despite Joseph’s refusal. In fact, Genesis 39:10a (NIV) tells us that Potiphar’s wife, “…spoke to Joseph day after day…” trying to get him to come to bed with her.
It would have been easy for Joseph to break down and give into her lustful pleas. After all, he was in a foreign land which embraced polygamy, he had to be mentally broken down from his extremely trying situation, and at the end of the day, he would only be doing what his master asked him to do. But Genesis 39:10 (NIV) continues by telling us that, “…though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.”
Joseph was unwilling to let his integrity be compromised to the point that he wouldn’t even let himself be in the same room as her!
As the story continues we read of a time when, “[Joseph] went into the house to attend his duties and none of the household servants were inside. [Potiphar’s wife] caught [Joseph] by his cloak and said ‘Come to bed with me!’ But [Joseph] left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house” (Genesis 39:11-12, NIV).
Joseph put 1 Corinthian 6:18 (“Flee sexual immorality…”) into practice thousands of years before it was written because he didn’t want to allow, “…even a hint of sexual immorality…” (Ephesians 5:3, NIV) to stain his unblemished reputation and character. He figured it was better to lose his cloak, his standing with his master, and possibly even his life than to forfeit his standing before the Lord.
Oh how I long for that to be said about me!! How I long for a church body that is more concerned with pleasing God than the number of people sitting in their services on Sundays. How I long for a nation who is more caught up in following the ways of the Lord than the ways of the economy.
Like the artic ermines and Joseph in Genesis 39, God is calling us to absolute purity and holiness (1 Peter 1:16). He is calling us to live above reproach and under the influence of no one but the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Are you unwavering in your integrity and purity?
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©Grant Gaines 2013
