Sweet Bondage

“And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master's wife, ‘Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?’” Genesis 39:7-9

John F. Brand passes on the story (originally from the Christian Herald) which Joseph Fort Newton wrote about a neighbor of his: The neighbor said, “Fact is, I’ve been in chains every day of my life, bound hand and foot by the faith which other people had in me.

First, there was my little mother - as sweet a soul as ever lived - really wonderful to me in all sorts of ways. Sometimes I simply could not do some things while she was alive; I never felt free to do anything that would hurt her feelings.”

(Next the neighbor mentioned his pastor, who believed in him and expected good things from him.)

Last but not least, there are my wife and family. They have the odd idea that I am a first-rate fellow, and there you are. Some things a man can’t do, when others may be horribly hurt.”

Who is it that keeps you accountable? Thank God for them and think about how much trouble you could have gotten into if it wasn’t for those who loved you and kept you accountable.