Proverbs 4:10-19

“Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”

It is known by those people who professionally work in addiction recovery that for an addict to change their life and remain clean when entering back into society that they must change who they associate with, change their friends. If they return to their previous way of life then their recovery most likely will fail. They will quickly be back in the midst of their addiction. In almost all cases when the person in recovery refuses to associate with the people they participated with in their addiction and instead makes new Christian friends then in almost all cases they will succeed in their recovery. Bad friends, bad associates will ruin good morals and yes good intentions.

Have you ever been able to wear white clothing and keep them spotless clean when working in a garden, potting flowers or doing any dirty job? Has your white clothing ever cleaned the dirt and made it become white? Of course the answer to both scenarios is no, we all understand that it is illogical that white could stay clean while working in a dirty garden or that the white clothes would somehow clean the dirt. The same applies when mixing sin and evil with good. What happens when a person trying to follow God, seeking to live according to God’s way, according to God’s word chooses to regularly associate with those who practice evil and live in sin, those who don’t have any desire to follow and live their life for God? The answer is that the one trying to change their life will over time find themselves being influenced by the sin more than the person living in sin being changed for the good. Sin and evil have a tendency to dull our conscience and soon we are accepting their sin and even excusing it. Before long we are participating in the sin right along with them. 

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that we have to live in this world but we are not to conform to the world. Yes, we must live and work around people who live ungodly lives. How else can we reach them and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them? However we should not make them our best friends and certainly not our constant companions. It doesn’t matter how seasoned a Christian you may think you are or what your age is. Many Christians, preachers and pastors have been led astray. People of all ages are at risk of being led astray by people they associate with in work, in sports, in hobby activities and as a constant companion. Don’t think you’re a strong enough and seasoned enough Christian to prove statistics wrong. Many begin with the idea in their mind that they’re hanging around sin to lead the sinner to Jesus. As we previously discussed you are most likely only setting yourself up for failure. Could it be that we are hanging around them because our own sinful flesh want to participate in the sin and enjoy their lifestyle? Could this be a ploy of the evil one to entice us to sin and weaken us as a Christian, stunting our growth in ministry, hindering us from pursuing and fulfilling God’s plan for us? 

Remember the story of Peter denying Jesus three times recorded in Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72 and Luke 22:55-62. Peter was so certain of his strength and heartfelt belief as a follower that he vowed his loyalty to the very face of Jesus Christ in the flesh and yet he failed when he faced the fear of criticism by others who did not believe in Jesus. He had a one on one relationship with The Lord himself here on Earth, he had seen the miracles Jesus had performed with his very own eyes. I am sure he believed and had faith whole heartedly but his flesh succumbed to sin brought by the association with others who were not believers. Why would any one of us think we are any less in danger of the same failure? So why take the risk?

We as a believer should not feel or think that we are better than the person who is living in sin. We, after salvation are redeemed by the blood of Christ Ephesians 1:7. It is about the work that Jesus did on the cross and does not have anything to do with what we have done. Our belief and faith would be worthless without the work of Jesus on the cross. That is what determines the difference between where they spend eternity and where we spend eternity. We do not wish to abandon our friends and family when we become a Christian. We must separate ourselves from the world but by the same token we are to share our testimony and let that, our character and actions stand as an example of the power, strength and love of Jesus Christ 1 Peter 3:15-16; Mark 5:19; 2 Timothy 1:8; 2 Corinthians 3:2-3. 

Only after much prayer do we approach the people who remain lost from our past and the lost ones that we may meet in our future. We pray for The Lord to help us be careful in all we say and do. To help us be edifying, lifting them up, careful to never tear others down and to never cause harm. We want to approach and treat them as an example of God’s love. Pray for God to help us to listen and teach us when we should remain silent. We pray for wisdom as we choose our associations wisely. Pray for God’s direction when we reach out to those who do not know and serve Jesus Christ. This world is so full of evil and is such a trap set by the evil one. This world is so full of pain, sorrow, sickness, loss and grief. Pray for The Holy Spirit of God to go before us when we are preparing to reach out to those hurting in this world and ask for Him to comfort them, give them peace and to touch them with his love, softening their hearts to make them more receptive to His word leading them to a place where they will now or one day in the near future accept Jesus Christ into their heart as their personal Savior. That is God’s will for all the lives of His children. To share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all who we meet, leading them to accept Christ as their Savior or maybe to plant a seed that we may later or someone else may water and witness the harvest where they eventually accept The Lord as their Savior. We go through life after our salvation seeking God’s will for our lives. Well, there you have it.