Genesis 39:12

In contending with certain sins, there remains no way to achieve victory except by flight. Ancient naturalists wrote much about basilisks, whose eyes fascinated their victims and made them easy prey; so the mere gaze of wickedness puts us in grave danger. Whoever would be safe from acts of evil must hurry away from occasions of it.

We must make a covenant with our eyes not even to look at the cause of temptation, for such sins need only a spark to ignite, and a blaze follows in an instant. Who would wantonly enter a leper’s prison and sleep amid its horrible corruption? Only someone who desires to be leprous himself would thus court contagion.

If a sailor knew how to avoid a storm, he would do anything rather than run the risk of weathering it. Cautious pilots have no desire to test how near they can sail to quicksand, or how often they may touch a rock without springing a leak; their aim is to keep as close as possible to the middle of a safe channel.

Today I may be exposed to great danger; let me have the serpent’s wisdom to stay out of it and avoid it. The wings of a dove may be of more use to me today than the jaws of a lion. It is true I may be an apparent loser by declining evil company, but I would rather leave my cloak than lose my character; it is not necessary for me to be rich, but it is imperative for me to be pure. No ties of friendship, no chains of beauty, no flashings of talent, no shafts of ridicule must turn me from the wise resolve to flee from sin. The devil I am to resist, and he will flee from me; but the lusts of the flesh, I must flee, or they will surely overcome me. O God of holiness, preserve Your Josephs, so that Madam Bubble does not bewitch them with her vile suggestions. May the horrible trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil, never overcome us!