“My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.”
Along with counseling them to love Jesus and be kind, this would certainly rank high on the list of desires I have for my children and grandchildren to know and understand. If they—and really all of us—would learn to walk away from those who entice us into sin, our lives would be so much better. Sin is inherently tempting, or we would never do it. The people we allow into our journey—especially those we come to look up to, trust, or want to be like—can become even more dangerous when they flaunt sin or encourage us toward it. There were sins that I could easily walk away from as a young person, but my group of friends did not have to work very hard to drag me toward others. Not to make myself the only saint in the situation, there were also people whom I dragged toward things that none of us had any business being involved with. The beauty of this reality is that people who walk with Jesus can also lead us in the right direction. Thankfully, I have had—and continue to have—many great men and women in my life who follow Jesus intimately and make me desire the same thing. We aren’t judged by comparison; however, it has always been a blessing to have those who are further along in their walk with Christ lead me through places where they had already been and help me avoid the pitfalls that sin waved in front of me. Walk with the redeemed. #BeTheEdge
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:13 (NIV)
