Choose Friends Wisely Today:-Close friends and their influence on us.

Choose Friends Wisely Today:- Close friends and their influence on us.

Our growing years from birth till early childhood are spent with our parents, grandparents and caretakers. Beyond that the influence we get from the outside world increases with time. That's where friends come in.

Friends are important in life. No one can be without friends. Next to our family and kin, friends help shape our lives as we spend much time with them. 

We definitely cannot choose our family and kin. We have very little choice of choosing whom we work with. But, we can choose whom we want to be our closest friends. By that I do not mean that the others are enemies. No, far from that. All others can be our friends, short term friends whom we meet once in a while. But closest friends are those we share most of our interests and lesiure time with. 

There is an idiom which goes like this, 'Birds of a feather flock together'! That means those with the same interests spend much time together. 

Vladimir Lenin once said, "Show me your friends and I will tell who you are!" There is truth in what Lenin a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist said.

Yes, when we spend much of our time with those who are interested in making something out of their lives, in serving others and in becoming useful citizens, then over time we will become like them. Instead, when we spend much of our time with those who waste their time smoking, drinking and exploring drugs and those who are lazy and engage in useless fights, with those who just sit and mindlessly engage in video games, binge on movies, food and cheesy talks and juicy gossips, then naturally we will become like them. 

Once we reach the age of 40, those wasted years will only bring us tears. There is no way we can turn the clock back. But again there may be some hope for those who ammend their ways and try very very hard to make the best of their remaining years on earth.

Those whom God has called to be the 'light of the world' and the 'salt of the earth', we Christians need to be extra careful when we choose our inner circle of friends. 

Why do I say that? As I have already said, friends influence our lives in major ways. As children of God, we need god fearing friends who will hold us accountable for our walk with God. As iron sharpens iron, god fearing friends sharpen one another. They will encourage us to persevere in obeying God's Word and they will correct us when we do wrong. They will pray for us and pray with us when we are sick or in trouble. They will worship God and read the Bible with us. They will give us biblically sound advice. We need such friends so that we do not compromise with this fallen world and fall prey to its sinful ways and lose the eternal life which Jesus has won for us.

Time and again in the Old Testament of the Bible, we read about the punishments God's chosen people, the Israelites, who dwelt among the Canaanites and other idol worshippers, received. They disobeyed God, got entrenched in the pagan practises of those whom they surrounded themselves with and made compromises with their evil lifestyle, and eventually received God's wrath upon themselves and their children. Let us never make the same mistakes they did.

So dear children of God, choose your closest friends wisely with extreme caution. Choose friends who will help you keep eternity's values in view. Keep these close friends with you till a ripe old age.  Together with your closest friends go and shine the light of Christ Jesus and glorify God via what you think, do and say always.

Finally remember there are two types of friends. Those who help us to gain the whole world and reach the stars and those who ruin their lives and ours. But the best friend of all is one who would give up his life to save us from hell fire. That faithful friend is none other than Jesus.

In John 15:13 we read, 

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." These are the words of Jesus. He said it and He lived it. He laid down His life to save us from eternal death and win a victorious entrance into heaven. He died a cruel death, taking our sins upon Himself and rose again, defeating death. Jesus lives! He lives to walk with you now and for all eternity. Will you choose Him to be your closest friend and companion and Lord of your life today?

May God bless you as you make your choice this day.

Mary Augustine

7th April 2021