Daily Devotional For Saturday, January 11, 2025
Growing up I often heard, “Birds of a feather flock together.” It was a reminder that whoever we hang out with and around influences us – sometimes for the good and sometimes for bad. That is the point of 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals” (CSB). We say, “You are what you eat” and you are who you associate with. This is why we say “guilty by association.” The Bible is full of stories of such people who went astray due to those in their company.
One I can think of is King Solomon. Look at 1 Kings 11:4, “When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been” (CSB). What a sad commentary for this king that God gave so much wisdom, wealth and power to in his day. It is also an interesting comparison. We all know how his father, King David sinned and failed: lust, adultery, murder and coverup. Yet, God says that what Solomon did was worse. Why? He of all people should have known better due to God’s blessings in his life.
One of the things we can learn from the life of Solomon is that the people we allow to influence us really do matter. Sadly, Solomon was led away from God by his pagan wives. I can just imagine those conversations: “Don’t be so narrow minded. Surely you don’t think your God is the only one!” Or: “I don’t want you to stop worshipping your God. Just let me build a little altar to my god, too.”
Pagan voices are loud in our culture as well, and if we are not careful, we will be in danger of compromising our faith because of them. The message is, “You don’t have to deny your faith. Just tone it down and be more open to other religions. They have some good teachings, too.” The pressures to compromise our belief in the one true God are growing and intensifying. Let’s never hesitate to declare that the God of the Bible is the only God who is worthy of our worship.
Christian author David Wells asks this:
“What is worldliness? (It is) that system of values, in any given age, which has at its center our fallen human perspective, which displaces God and his truth from the world, and which makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange. It thus gives great plausibility to what is morally wrong and, for that reason, makes what is wrong seem normal” (Source: David Wells, Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision, p. 4).
We could easily substitute the word “compromise” for worldliness here. I remember as a very young child, there was a TV show on called Candid Camera:
“On August 10, 1948, a pioneering television producer named Allen Funt debuted a hidden-camera reality TV show called Candid Camera. The genius of the show is that it caught people in the act of being themselves. It produced lots of laughs, but it also offered a fascinating look into the human psyche. In one episode titled "Face the Rear," an unsuspecting person boarded an elevator and naturally turned around to face the front of the elevator. That's when three actors entered the elevator and faced the rear. A hidden camera in the elevator captured the angst of the prankee. To turn or not to turn?
Finally, a fourth actor entered the elevator and faced the rear. Without exception, the person facing the front would turn around and face the rear. The social influence exerted by those facing the rear was too overwhelming for that person to remain the only one facing the front” (Source: Mark Batterson, Play the Man, pp. 144-145).
It seems from Candid Camera that peer pressure is powerful, even on adults. We often warn our kids and teens of compromise from peer pressure, but adults are not immune to it as we saw with Solomon.
Questions To Consider
- When you were young, did you give into peer pressure or were you the one exerting peer pressure?
- When have you regretted giving into peer pressure?
- When have you ever been with “Christians” and they were pressuring you to do something you knew was wrong or sinful, did you hold your ground or did you compromise as Solomon did?
- You might think that as Solomon aged and continued to be blessed by God, he would have held his ground. Why do you think Solomon is remembered with this legacy? How do you want your legacy to be remembered?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 13:20, “The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm” (CSB).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, I believe: Jesus, Your only begotten Son, is my only pathway to reconciliation and redemption to You. Born of a virgin, He lived a sinless life until He was crucified and died for my sin. But Your Holy Spirit’s power resurrected Jesus from death. He ascended to Heaven and is at Your right hand in intercession until His return to Earth. Jesus IS the only way, truth, and life—my identity and life is in Him. Please help me to walk without compromise for Your glory. That is the legacy I want to leave – “a person after God’s own heart.” In His name, Amen.”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly