Monday, September 14, 2009

IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT!

Proverbs 1:10-19 (NIV)

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul;
12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

When I read this passage, it made me think about when I first got my son started in BMX racing. We’d go to the track to practice, and I constantly had to fight with him about keeping his helmet on. He used to use the excuse, “The other kids aren’t wearing them.” Which is an excuse, not just used by kids, it’s an excuse that adults use as well. The hardest concept for him to understand was, “Just because a lot of people are doing something wrong doesn’t make it right, it makes a whole lot of people wrong.” And we have to ask, are we going to be wrong with them, or are we willing to be strong enough to do the right thing even in the face of ridicule and the possibility of loosing friends? The truth is, we can easily make new friends…and if they would lead you astray are they really your friends to begin with?

When we take this passage, and keep it in mind as we read the New Testament, we notice something amazing about Jesus. Living, eating and drinking amongst sinners, Jesus never once sinned, even though he was faced with temptation. Jesus is the prime example of being in the world, but being not of the world.

Rodney

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