Not long ago, my brother and I went to pay our respects and visit with the family of a gentleman who passed away. We reminisced about old times and shared stories from our childhood. At one point his daughter said, “Do you remember 40 years ago when we pulled up to your church on a Sunday night? Going to that church literally changed our lives. The men embraced him and encouraged him through all his business start up’s and failures. When he had success, it was the men who told him how to invest and create wealth for the future. He got to have the life he did because of the men he was around in that church.” They had left where they were living in search of a better life. They found community that didn’t just embrace them, but elevated them. It’s amazing what friendships can do.
Their story reminds me of Ruth. She was living in her homeland, but had lost her husband, didn’t have any children and her mother in law, Naomi, was returning to her homeland. She decided her life would be better with Naomi in a foreign land than alone in her own country. In Ruth 1:16 she said, “For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God” (NKJV). That decision changed the trajectory of her life. Ruth was accepted by the people of Bethlehem. Boaz protected her in the fields and later married her. She became the great grandmother to King David, and further down the line Jesus was in her lineage. It all started with one decision about who she was going to live her life with.
Proverbs 12:26 says, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully.” I’ve heard it said that if you show me who you hang around with, I’ll show you your future. Studies also show that the people you spend the most time with heavily affect your health, income and success. The Bible is clear that we must choose wisely and carefully because of how much the people around us affect our life. Like my friend’s father or Ruth, changing who you’re around may require a move of location, job or social setting. Proverbs 13:20 says that the wise walk with the wise, but the blind follow each other into the ditch. Are you around the people God wants you to be around? Are you with people that hold you where you are or are elevating you? Relationships matter more than we think. Choose wisely.
Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 