It is a blessing to have people, men and women of God in your life to tell you when you’re being an idiot.  Proverbs 27:5-6 – “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”   You know who your true friends are?  They’re not the ones who are necessarily the most fun.  They’re not the ones who tell you what you want to hear to make you happy all the time.  No, your true friends are the ones who will tell you something that you don’t want to hear, the one’s who care about you, care about your relationship with God above all else, even the friendship itself, enough to call you to repentance and faith.  Everyone else, wants something from you, maybe companionship or something else, but they are not truly your friend.  A true friend will call you to repentance from foolishness and sin that is separating you from the God you love, and encourage you to hold fast to the promises of God that have been secured in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Those people, are difficult to find.  There is a lot of wisdom in Proverbs 18:24 – A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

I say all of that as an answer largely to what I’m now going to say is the problem; the stubbornness of man and the futility of personal “wisdom”.  If in general you think you “know what’s best” for your life – you’re a fool.  None of us do.  I’m sure you can look back on your life to come up with plenty of examples.  I know I can.  This is why we are called to community.  (Hebrews 10:24-25) For those who would offer up only the wisdom to “follow your heart”, I would offer up Jeremiah 17:9 –“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”  What happens when people stubbornly go their own way?  What happens when those voices around them calling them to repentance and faith are shut out?  They are lost.  Jesus laments over such people in Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37-39 – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”  In great love, God sent forth prophets to speak Truth to the people of Israel, and what did Jerusalem do?  They rejected their words and killed the prophets.  What happened afterwards – God allowed them to see the full consequences of their rejecting Him and the Truth.  I’ve been on both sides of this.  I’ve rejected Godly wisdom, and have felt the painful consequences of that.  I’ve also been the friend pleading with someone to see that the path they’re on was leading to a lot of pain and separation from God, and I’ve been shut out.  I prayed for them, but there was nothing more that could be said that I hadn’t already said.  Some of those people ultimately went on to completely reject God, evidenced by their life and actions.  Some, in God’s mercy, he allowed to go through painful consequences, but ultimately brought back to Himself.  What I know, is that God is jealous over His people, and His desire is to keep us from the pain and separation that sin creates.

My exhortation today is one of wisdom.  Who are the voices that are speaking into your life?  If they are many, consider whether or not that is wise to divide yourself in that way.  If they are few, but never have hard conversations with you, consider whether or not these are truly friends that will push you closer to God.  I have 4 people in my life, that if they call me to do something I don’t want to do, I defer to their judgment as those whom God has put in my life.  These are people who love God.  They love Jesus, and it’s evidenced all throughout their life, so my trust is well placed.  If we go things alone in this life, we will be lost.  If we reject those God has put in our life to be voices pointing us to God, we are fools, and we will be lost.  Therefore, in humility, consider pursuing those friendships that are closer than a brother, and open your heart to trust them.  It is a blessing of God to you and for you.

Grace and Peace,

Adam