Devotions

DEVOTIONS: by Pastor Raymond J. Hamilton
“Oh Lord we praise You. . .”

Just to encourage your hearts this morning Proverbs 22:24-25 says: “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest thou  learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.”

     We are warned that through association, we can pick up bad habits of other people. This is really the way angry mobs start, someone gets mad about an issue, and then they incite others to take up their personal offenses. The Bible says that a person can be ensnared and trapped into an evil situation by a close relationship with an angry person. Angry people are always stirring up trouble. There are also other dangers of hanging out with the wrong crowd. We are warned in the Bible not to make close friendships with habitual sinners. If we do not want to be like the kind of people that are evil, we must not be buddies with them, nor allow our children to buddy with them. There is a saying, "If you play with fire, you will get burned." Young people and older people as well cannot entertain the notion that they can be close to wickedness and not find themselves being dragged into the same wicked deeds that they do. If we do not resist evil, it will soon overtake us.

     This does not mean that we are not to witness to sinners, nor isolate ourselves from them when we must come in contact with them. It just means we are not to form close relationships with them. We should also warn our children to be careful who they choose as friends. Parents should also have a say as to the kind of friends their children "hang out" with. I praise God for the young people who are good kids and are leading good Christian lives. It is not easy to live for Christ in an ungodly society. But they should be warned about their friendships as well. One trick that the devil uses to ensnare good Christians is to entice them to become friends with ungodly people. Satan usually whispers that by being their friend, they can win them to Christ. I am not saying we should snub evil people, nor should we be unkind to them. However, we cannot become close buddies to those that practice unrighteousness, as this has been the downfall of many Christians. Be blessed and remember “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”