Life.Church developed the YouVersion Bible app you're using here at ABC. The stats behind its success story are eye-watering:
By the end of 2017:

it had already been downloaded over 300 million times
3 billion chapters of the Bible had been listened to using the app’s audio function
16.7 billion chapters had been read
11 million friendships were connected within the app
72 million verses were compared in different versions of the Bible

And the Bible app is just one of the apps the Life.Church has developed and given away for free to churches all over the world, helping them in so many ways. Their impact as a church is truly global.

Yet the man who started and leads this incredible church could so easily have missed out on his destiny because at a pivotal point in his life, he chose to cling to close friendships with people who had a very negative influence on him.

At this stage of your life as young adults with so much potential ahead of you, I want to urge you to make wise choices about the people you choose to be in your inner circle of friends because, as the saying goes,

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”.

I don’t know who came up with this particular phrase but the wisdom expressed in this saying is nothing new. It’s been around for thousands of years and can be found in the Old Testament part of the Bible in the proverbs of King Solomon of Israel. Solomon was a king who enjoyed much success but he also learnt many lessons from his failures. His proverbs were an attempt to pass on these life lessons to help people avoid making the mistakes he had made.

If you want a good life, surround yourself with good people who are a positive influence on you and will help you reach your full potential.
If you want to make wise decisions, don’t hang around people who keep getting themselves or others into trouble.
I’m not saying you should never associate with people like that because someone has to help them but don’t listen to their advice or agree with or encourage them when they’re being reckless.
Most of all, don’t make them one of your inner circle!

You have to be intentional about who you choose to be influenced by. Solomon says, “walk with the wise and become wise”. When you walk closely with someone, you willingly go in the same direction as them.

Where are your current friends headed? Is that where you want to end up? If they influence you, which they will, and you end up becoming more like them, will you be glad you did?

Take a moment to think about that.

Speaking of becoming more like our friends by walking with them, what NextSteps have you taken recently to grow in your relationship with God?

Is God an inner circle friend or an acquaintance?

Are you deliberately seeking a deeper walk with him because you respect him and want to be wise like him?

If you’re looking for someone wise to give you good advice at every stage of your life, can I suggest you consider investing time and effort in connecting with God. You won’t find anyone wiser or who knows you better. You won’t find another friend able to be with you in every single situation and with the ability to see the big picture at all times.

Jesus constantly amazed people with his wisdom and the level of friendship he displayed when he laid down his life for his friends is second to none. Walk with him and become wise.

If you’d like to explore a number of next steps you could take to do that, come and have a chat to me and explore some of the many resources available to help you build a lasting friendship with Jesus.