Choose Your Friends Wisely!

SCRIPTURE

Numbers 16:20-35 (NRSV)
God destroys Korah's company

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: Separate yourselves from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment. They fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one person sin and you become angry with the whole congregation?"

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Say to the congregation: Get away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. He said to the congregation, "Turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away for all their sins." So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents, together with their wives, their children, and their little ones. And Moses said, "This is how you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; it has not been of my own accord: If these people die a natural death, or if a natural fate comes on them, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord."

As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them was split apart. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households - everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they with all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth will swallow us too!" And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred fifty men offering the incense.


DEVOTION

Whoa!

Today’s scripture makes two things crystal clear to me. First of all, who you hang out with matters and secondly, sin is a very serious thing to our God.

Korah and his pals made a grave mistake when they dared to exalt themselves above God and God’s chosen leadership and plan.

When they chose not to be repentant, God became so angry that God threatened to destroy all of the Hebrew people on account of their actions. I love the words of Moses and Aaron’s urgent intercessory prayer. They cried out, “"O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one person sin and you become angry with the whole congregation?"

Thank God for people who know how to get a prayer through in an emergency! On more than one occasion, I have been blessed by the prayer warriors in my own life, who have lifted up a 911 prayer for me when I didn’t have the sense to pray for myself!

As a result of Moses and Aaron’s faithful intercession, only Korah and company had to pay the price for their unconfessed sin. In anger, God swallowed up Korah, his entire family, and everyone who had sided with him in his argument against God, Moses, and Aaron.

What terrible bad news!

This “disappearing” of the offenders is a reminder of how seriously God takes sin. The Bible says in Romans 6:23a “the wages of sin are death.”

It is true that our sinfulness always brings about death. It is not always an immediate and/or physical death like Korah and friends, but it is death—physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual all the same.

This is why it is so important for us to daily examine our consciences and to confess all of our sin to our loving and forgiving God. This is also why it is so important to choose our friends and associates wisely.

My mama told me that “birds of a feather, flock together.” The people that we choose to hang out with influence us either for good or for evil. They will either build us up or tear us down. They will either lead us into temptation, or they will help us to walk in holiness.

Today we are invited to take stock of our relationships. If there are people in our lives whom we know are no good for our walk of faith, we need to bless them to go in peace. This doesn’t mean that we don’t love them. This doesn’t mean that we won’t pray for them daily. It does mean that if a friend is causing us to choose between them and JESUS—there is only one choice in that equation.

When I was a little girl we sang a song in church that I will never forget. The lyrics stated, “There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no not one! No not one!”

This is so true my friends!

During this Advent season as we prepare to celebrate our best friend’s birthday and look forward to his second coming in glory, let us remember who our truest friend is! For there is none other who chose to willingly die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. And there is none other who defeated sin, death, and the grave on our behalf reconciling us with our Creator and God.

Today, let us make up our minds to use this Advent Season to repent of our sin and draw near to God!


Please pray with me:

Holy God, thank you that you are a friend like no other. Thank you that Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day for me! I am so sorry for all of my sin; please forgive me and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can draw close to you as I share the good news that Jesus saves and He saves to the utmost! I love you and I want to share our love with others. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.



THE INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html