IT MATTERS WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE

YOUTH SATURDAY

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols – 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

Many young Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are still entangled with the things of this world. Whether they’re still in school, varsity or they’ve just started working, many of them are friends with the people of this world. Know that you’re a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re born of water, blood and the Spirit. You’ve died to this world and are therefore passed from death to life. You therefore cannot live the old life you used to have. You cannot keep the old friends you used to have and engage in their sinful activities. The Lord Jesus Christ lived in this world but He never became unequally yoked with unbelievers. He ministered to them, He showed them the way of Eternal Life, but He never lived the same life as them.

You might feel that you can handle being around wicked friends and still remain a Christian, but that’s not how God sees it. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, ‘Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.’ You might think that you can influence your friends and convert them, however, we become like the people we hang out with. Sooner or later, they’ll corrupt your good character and you’ll become like them. James 4:4 says, ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.’ You cannot be friends with the people of this world. To do so is to become an enemy of God. That will put you in the same category with Satan, his demons and death. You don’t want that.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 says, ‘Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ The Lord commands that you come out from among them and be separate from them. You must touch no unclean thing. Stop watching the same movies as them, dressing like them, listening to the same music, drinking, smoking, clubbing, swearing and fornicating like them. When you do, you’ll stop being God’s enemy and God will receive you. You’ll become His child and He’ll be a Father to you. That means you must repent of your sin and afterward do works in keeping with repentance. If you don’t, you remain God’s enemy and He must then destroy you on the Day of Judgment.

PRAYER

Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may I not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. May I not be friends with the world and therefore Your enemy as God. May I deny myself, take up my Cross daily and follow the Example of the Lord Jesus Christ.