We listen to those we trust and if we don’t know them, then we base that trust on how they think.  Does their thinking line up with ours?

If we are Democrats, then we listen to the Democrats.  

If we are Republicans, then we listen to Republicans.  

If we are Christians, then we should be listening to Christians, but are we?  

We get a lot of our opinions from the world.  I have friends that have children that don’t line up with the Bible.  They are practicing a lifestyle that the Bible says God abhors.

I was around said friends and I was talking about a show I had been watching and really enjoyed, until they introduced that lifestyle in the raw flesh, if you get my drift.  I was so disappointed, I turned it off and quit watching the series.

Did I tell my friends why I would not watch the series anymore?  No, I did not.

Number one, they cannot control their children and what they do.  They can pray.

I did feel rather uncomfortable trying to back out on the reason why I quit watching the series.  

The Bible talks about a lot of things we should, and should not do, but so many times we confuse the lines on what it says.  

A great example is drinking.  

The Bible says in Proverbs 23:20 – “Don’t hang out with those who get drunk on wine”, and we take it to say don’t drink, but the second half of that sentence states “or those who eat too much meat.”

So, does that mean we can’t hang out with heavy-set people, or be heavy-set?  No, that is not what the verse is talking about.

In vs 21, it states, “because drunks and gluttons will be impoverished; their stupor will clothe them in rags.”

It’s saying they will be lazy, not work and be poor, and usually, bad habits influence us.  

I know a lot of people who are heavy-set and drink, but they are very successful.  They don’t let drinking and eating be number one in their lives.

Also, if you look up the term “drunkard” it means “a person who is habitually drunk.”

We should read the Bible and make sure we are reading it with a commonsense eye.  This is important because Satan wants us to beat ourselves up about the little stuff and ignore the big stuff.  

It’s important to find out what God does not like, not just what we want to hear, or what we don’t want to hear.  

In the story of Lot, it has been argued that the term “we want to get to know them” means just that, “to meet them”.  

AU contraire.

If you read the full story you will see that Lot states in Genesis 19:15 – “I pray you do not so wickedly”.

And then in vs. 8, Lot offers all these men his daughters and points out that they are virgins.  There is no denying what the story is talking about when it states, “we want to get to know them”.  

Don’t listen to Satan, who will lead you astray.  

Read God’s word; sincerely pray about what God is trying to tell you; find a way to implement what God wants into your life; and at that point, if you get it wrong, God will take care of you and love you for your actions.

 

Karen Y. Stevens is the founder of Orange County Christian Writers Guild