The Company You Keep Mattersعينة

Check Your Circle. Let’s talk about the group of people Jesus allowed in the room when He told the little girl to get up in Mark 5. It was a group of people who were closest to the need and who agreed with what Jesus said. Those who laughed were not allowed in. In the same way, there are ways you can know who should be in your close circle of friends and who should be put out. Proverbs 16:28 calls out the one who gossips. Galatians 5 lists a number of things that display the “acts of the flesh.” Upon first reading, it might seem a bit extreme. You may not be practicing witchcraft or having orgies, but are your conversations full of anger or envy? If a friend is frustrated by someone at work, do you simply justify her feelings or do you encourage her to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, who supplies an endless amount of patience and kindness to flow through her? In Exodus 17, Joshua is fighting a battle that he can only win as long as Moses keeps his arms raised. When Moses’ arms got tired, his friends brought him something to sit on and they held his arms up. Moses was believing for Joshua’s victory and his friends stepped in and believed with him. What a picture of friendship! When you are sitting with your closest friends, it can look like a variety of different kinds of practical things, but at the end of the day, you want to be surrounded by friends who believe in greater things with you. You want them to be friends who will help hold you steady until you see the victory. Take a moment to think about the fruit that comes from spending time with your friends. Does it look more like the fruit of the spirit or the acts of the flesh? Do you hold each other’s arms up when you get tired?