A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (February 7, 2018)
Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character. (1 Corinthians 15:33, AMPC Bible)
A close friend and I just went to dinner with a young man that has recently turned his life back over to the Lord. He recommitted his life to the Lord last Sunday at our church and my friend invited him to dinner with us just to talk with him about how he was doing.
One of the things he brought up was his challenge on how to deal with old friends that are bar scene people that love to drink and do drugs. This is a common challenge for young adults that give their life to the Lord and want to come out of that lifestyle.
I shared with him the following personal testimony. I did not give my life to the Lord until I was 35 years old. I was big into alcohol and I had several long-time friends that were big into it with me. We had been buddies for years. We had hunted and fished together. We went to college together. We were very close. However, after I gave my heart to the Lord things began to change. I did not desire that lifestyle anymore. My heart was for the Lord, but I valued my friends also.
My friends wanted me to keep drinking with them and they accused me of having an attitude of being “holier than thou” because I did not want to drink and party with them anymore. It quickly became abundantly clear that I needed to make a decision about who I was going to serve, my friends or the Lord. Thank God I had enough Word in me to make the right decision. I made a clean break and never saw them again.
Now, some people may think that is hard and unloving but that was what I needed to do to not get sucked back into the world. This young man will have to make that same type of decision. Will his friends ridicule him for it? Yes they will. Will they call him names? Yes they will. The truth is that bad company corrupts good morals, especially when you are a new believer and are not strong enough to fight off the ridicule and criticism that will come from your best friends.
Here is a promise from Jesus about walking away from people that would hamper your walk with Him:
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)
Jesus will replace your friends with more and better friends. Just walk away!
