Can't Touch That

 

"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.'" II Cor. 6:17

 

It is so hard to get it right as a Christian.  On the one hand, we do not need to be "Lysol Christians" who are too sanitized to interact with the unsaved.  On the other hand, we cannot get so close to the world that we become like them and take up their ways.  There is a balance between the two extremes, and it is important that we work to keep that balance in view at all times.

 

There is a great Mexican restaurant around here, that everyone loves to eat at.  But, because of the ventilation system, you can "smell" where people have had lunch!  The scent permeates every layer of clothing.  It can even settle into your hair.  That is the way sin is as well.  If we are around it too long, the stench begins to settle in our spirit.  When I think of this problem, I always think about Lot who "pitched his tent toward Sodom."  When the time of destruction came, he was too close in to let go of the world.  The Angel of the Lord had to drag him out to save him.  The way of sin has a way of latching onto us and holding us longer than we want to stay.

 

We cannot expect to be people of influence if we hang out in the same places as sinners all the time.  We have to be Jesus in this world.

 

  Dear God, teach me the balance between making redemptive friendships and compromising with the world. Direct me and help me to always be set apart for you.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

 

Sherri