September 1
Scripture: James 4:4
Source author: Patrick Mitchell
September 1
Friendship With the World Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? —James 4:4
My friend told me how his beginning to smoke, drink, and swear had opened up doors with his friends who weren’t Christians. “Now they listen to me talk about the Gospel. They ask questions.” “Don’t you think these compromises are going to turn around and eat you alive?” I asked. “Has anyone become a committed Christian because of this change in your life?” “No, but they’re close.” “How do you know? How do you know they’re not just seeing how far you’ll go?” “I hadn’t thought of that.” But I knew his friends had. One day he came to me and said, “One of them accepted Christ.” “Is it real?” “Don’t know. He doesn’t want to come to church.” I only nodded. It would take a lot more than smoking a cigarette to get the attention of these people; I knew that. I’ve tried to work with the world’s ways of doing things, meeting some people in the middle. It rarely works. And they
end up compromised Christians with little commitment or concern for the truth. God just tells us not to do it.
Love obeys God and reaches out in purity. — Patrick Mitchell —