Choose

DEVOTION
PROVERBS
CHOOSE
Prov 1:11-19
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; 12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse" — 15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. 17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! 18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! 19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.
NIV
This is the rest of what started yesterday about my choice to run with this crowd or with God. I cannot understand how people can treat each other as described here. I do wonder if this is not just a metaphor of the normal life of an unsaved people. Yet I cannot imagine people being that ruthless in their conduct. Although I suppose this could also describe the idea of partnering with the business world in the sense of throwing in my lot, or investing money in their venture of accumulating as much wealth as possible at the expense of others. It also could imply the their business if of such that it would be consider by God as a sinful endeavor and my throwing in my lot, or investing in their company would be a horrible mistake. The problem I have always had is how I possible could know just what type of business or subsidiary business they may be involved with. Any business which is owned and operated by people who are not saved, I would think would be in that category, seeking me to throw in with them to share a common purse. I know ultimately this would bring great doom upon me, as I would be in violation of the laws of God. I cannot partner with the unsaved world in any sense; I cannot be unequally yoked with them. Giving those kinds of people my money in hopes they would line my pockets with gold, while confessing to love and trust God would be ludicrous. Could this not fit right in with the love of money rather than God? I certainly cannot do both. I cannot trust in the world ways of doing business and God’s way of living at the same time. I think it is so easy to get distracted by the lure of these financial gains that even believers are enticed into this game. All I see is gloom and doom when I see how this affects the inner workings of any person. To me, this pursuit of material gain as described here can only mean seeking the Kingdom of God second or at least in a distracted manner. I refuse such type of invitation. I will not allow those individuals to have such influence on how I live my life, and what my goals and ambitions are. I will not be guided by the ebbs and flows of the market place. My life is in Christ, In God will I always trust for all things. I have been and will be content with whatever he provides for me and in the way he has directed me. I do not want my life taken away from me by those things. I want the life God gives. I choose God.