|
 "And
Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat..." (Gen. 2:17). What
happened? Man chose to listen to Satan rather than God. In
Exodus 23, God instructed the Israelites to drive out the other
inhabitants of Canaan "lest they make thee sin against me;
for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto
thee" (vs. 33). What happened? Israel did not heed God's
command and was soon influenced by the nations around her.
"But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and
they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us, that we also
may be like all the nations..." (1 Sam. 8:19). In Jeremiah
6:16, the prophet pleaded with Judah to rid herself of her
idolatry and worldly practices and return to God's paths. What
was the reply? "But they said, We will not walk
therein."
By
these and other examples in the Bible, it becomes obvious that
man has the tendency to be influenced by those around him. It
also becomes obvious that most of the time, most men choose the
world's way rather than God's way. It would be foolish for us to
think that we are not affected by this carnal nature. Paul warns
us, "Be not deceived, evil companionships corrupt good
morals" (1 Cor. 15:33). Yet, too often when those words
reach our ears, we try to rationalize our choice of companions
and "hear" Paul as saying "sometimes
corrupt good morals" or "corrupt others good
morals." Paul said, "EVIL COMPANIONSHIPS CORRUPT GOOD
MORALS." Don't argue the point with me; those are God's
words.
| |
Solomon
wrote, "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not." He also warned, "Enter not into the path of the
wicked, and walk not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not
by it, turn from it, and pass on." And it was Solomon who
said, "Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise; but the
companion of fools shall be destroyed." (Prov. 1:10, 4:14,
13:20) Yet, it was recorded of this man in 1 Kings 11:4 --
"For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives
turned away his heart after other gods..." If one of the
wisest men who ever lived yielded to the influence of the world,
who are we to assume that we can resist that influence? We
should soberly remember God's word, "Wherefore, come ye out
from among them, and be ye separate." (II Co. 6:14)
One
brother, trying to defend his practice of visiting bars and
dance halls, explained to me that he had to spend time with the
world if he was going to convert anyone. It came as no surprise
to me to learn that he no longer even professes to be a
Christian. We cannot teach someone the truth by engaging in
their worldly activities.
So,
are we to avoid the world completely? Of course not. Christ
prayed not that we should be taken out of the world, but
that we not become of the world. (Jn. 17:15) A Christian
is in the world, but he is not of the world. The
scriptures tell us tit we have an obligation to the last. (Matt.
5:13-16, 28:19,20) Any relationship with an unbeliever
should be one of concern for his soul.
Kevan O'Banion
[Previous
Article] [Next
Article]
|
