I think the downtown skywalk system is one of Des Moines’ best-kept secrets. I was reminded of that last night as a friend and I roamed through the skywalk’s various corridors planning a scavenger hunt for an upcoming event.

There’s been at least two occasions where I’ve somehow managed to leave the skywalk system and end up someplace I’m not supposed to be. About a year ago, I ended up on the street outside after accidentally wandering through a podiatrist’s office, down a narrow stairway, and through a construction zone.

Last night, it all started when my friend and I decided we needed to find a bathroom. The problem? There are no bathrooms accessible from the skywalk at 10 p.m. We were running out of options when a suit-and-tie-clad businessman walked out of set of sliding glass doors from the Equitable Building and into the skywalk. Before the doors slid back shut, we stepped in. We met a security guard on the first floor who told us we couldn’t be there. We got back into the elevator, but instead of going to the skywalk level like we were supposed to, we went to the fifth floor where we finally found a bathroom down a dark hallway.

We were definitely testing our limits by continuing our search for a bathroom after being told not to. It almost became a game: How close to the bathroom could we get without actually getting caught? Though having an attitude like that when wandering around the Equitable Building after hours may not be a big deal, sometimes we have that same attitude toward sin. And that is a big deal.

I was thinking about that the other day as I read about Joseph. Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites who in turn sold him to one of Pharaoh’s officials in Egypt named Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife tried to talk Joseph into going to bed with her. When Joseph refused, she grabbed him by his garment and said, “Come to bed with me!” Joseph’s response in Genesis 39:12: “But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.”

The Bible makes it clear that proper response to sin is to flee from it (1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14)—not to play around with it or see how close we can get without actually sinning. In Mark 8:34-35 Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his live will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Jesus couldn’t get much clearer than that. As Christians, we must deny the sinful desires of our flesh and follow the things of God. It’s not always going to be easy. The cross is heavy and will probably give us painful splinters along the way. But that’s nothing compared to what Christ suffered on our behalf—and the blessings and adventure we’re promised through a life spent following him.

2 Corinthians 5:21