"...and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you."--Deuteronomy 7:2-4. Moses, giving instructions for the Israelites to not step outside the bounds of their nation, make no compromise with the people they were about to conquer including marriage. Why? Because of the influence the foreign nations would have on them. God recognizes it so must we recognize the power of influence.
The power of influence. The issue here is what has been an issue among the Lord's people for all time. How are we to associate with those who are not of the Lord's people? What we have to look at in this issue is the power of influence.
The power of influence. First let me say that I am in no way suggesting that we should not associate with someone who is not part of the Lord's people because if we were not to associate with them, we could not carry out the Great Commission as given in Matthew 28:18-20. But the question here is how much association should we have with these people given the power of influence?
The power of influence. There is something to be said about how the people we choose to surround ourselves will influence us. It breaks my heart to see that so many of our brethren in Christ have been dragged back into the world because they have chosen to run with the world. Granted they might show up to services at the appointed times but that is as far as it gets. The unfortunate thing is it will not be too long before they are no longer even coming to services. This is all due to the power of influence.
The power of influence. Deuteronomy 7:2-4 also touches on the issue of marrying those who are not of the Lord's people. This too is a sensitive issue among the Lord's people. While I do know of exceptions where the one who is not a Christian is converted (my own dad actually being one of them and in turn myself), most of the brethren I know who are married to one who is not a Christian, this has a negative impact on the Christian's relationship with God. What makes this worse is that it also impacts the children's ability to serve God with all their heart, soul, and mind because these marriage situations tend to move serving the Lord down on the priority list. Again, there are exceptions but for the most part this is typically true. It is an example of the power of influence.
The power of influence. So the question we need to ask ourselves is what kind of people are we surrounding ourselves with? Deuteronomy 7:2-4 shows us what can happen when we choose to compromise by surrounding ourselves with ungodly influences. Of course we must have an association with these people in order to convert them but if we start running in their crowds and forsake our brethren, then and only then will we be dragged into the world and before we know it, we have completely turned our back on serving God and His Son Jesus.
So my encouragement to you is this. Take a moment and examine who it is you might be running with. If you have been running with the wrong crowd, it is not too late to turn around and once again surround yourself with the Lord's people who are interested in serving Him with all their heart, soul, and mind. Maybe you can get started by organizing a get together with some members from your congregation. Whatever the case, just take a moment and realize the power of influence. The people we surround ourselves with will either pull us toward heaven or drag us into hell. THIS IS THE POWER OF INFLUENCE.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
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