The Company We Keep
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
PSALM 1:1 (NASB)
I was always a friendly outgoing guy as a lad, happy to mix with anyone. This would lead me into troublesome dark corners as a young believer in the 1980s. I had always struggled fitting in at school, often finding myself on the outside of the in crowd and the subject of their cruelty. After high school I began building new friendships outside of my main core of friends. The trouble was that I found myself drawn into things that didn’t fit with my new faith in God, starting with Heavy Metal music. It took some years before I had a wake up call, literally! A wee elderly man at my front door called Hugh Keirs doing door to door evangelism. This man of God adopted me in the Lord and lead me back to the right path following Almighty God.
No one plans to fall away from following God’s way of holiness; it happens gradually. It starts with little things and gradually builds up; “you’ve already done that, you might as well do this too!” Satan whispers coaxing. That is what we see develop in today’s verse; the backslider first walks, casually hanging out with the wrong crowd. Second they settle in the company, standing with their new friends. Thirdly the believer is far from God sitting with their companions partaking in ungodly ways, maybe even smiling weakly as they mock the Almighty. To my shame I can tell you I was that person, and it hurt a lot. But praise Father God who did not give up on this prodigal son.
Dear reader, have you began keeping bad company, and sliding down into sinful ways? Stop now! Please do not fall any further away from your Father God, who loves and misses your company. Or are you a prodigal son or daughter of God, completely backslidden from His path of holiness? I know the painful guilt that tortures you all too well, it is a lonely pain but it need not stay that way. Is this short message His call for you to return to Him; He does love you and is waiting for your return today.
Alan Kearns is a Christian father and grandfather from Scotland. He was raised in the mining villages of Fife and came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior in 1984. A major influence that leads Alan to Jesus was his Christian mum, grandparents and an aunt. Alan writes regular devotionals in his blog Devotional Treasures
https://devotionaltreasure.wordpress.com/
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
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