Friday August 09th, 2024
« I hate the company of those who practice evil, nor do I sit with the wicked »
14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
In continuation of our enquiry from yesterday into why Peter denied Jesus, let us look at Mark 14:54 again:
« And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire »
When Peter followed Jesus from afar into the palace of the high priest, he chose to sit with the servants.
Who were these servants?
Mark 14:65AMB gives us an insight into the kind of people they were
« And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy [by telling us who hit you]!” Then the officers took custody of Him and struck him in the face »
These servants were the same ones striking Jesus with the palms of their hands and Peter was sitting with them.
In Proverbs 21:16, the Bible talks about the congregation of the dead.
This is a congregation of people that do things against the will of God.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were able to stand strong, refusing to deny their God because they were in the company of fellow believers and not unbelievers. 1 Corinthians 15:33CEV says
« Don’t fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you »
If you spend a lot of time with people who are always talking about the latest clothes and television shows, gossiping about others, planning on how to commit sin right there in front of you, 1 Corinthians 15:33 says they would corrupt you.
The more of such sinful and worldly conversations/habits you expose yourself to, the weaker your commitment to Christ would be.
Eventually, you would find yourself doing things that you have earlier vowed never to do.
Leave the congregation of the dead.
2 Corinthians 6:14CEV instructs you thus
« Stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord! Can someone who is good get along with someone who is evil? Are light and darkness the same? »
Application – Are your current friends and associates bringing you closer to Jesus or compelling you to deny Him every now and then?
Author – Bishop Enoch Adejare Adeboye; General Overseer of the RCCG
Edited by Naomie Joseph
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