No Yoking

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

NO YOKING

2 Cor 6:14-18

14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."   17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate,       says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."   18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,    says the Lord Almighty."  

NIV

This is one of those scriptures some people use for only the things they want to. So many apply this to believers not supposed to marry an unbeliever and leave it at that. Some apply this in the sense that believers should isolate themselves from life with unbelievers. But there is much more here than that. To be yoked is to be in partnership with someone. As two oxen are yoked in order to pull together in the same direction, so are we when we join an unbeliever in any endeavor. That would apply to marriage, but it also would apply to being in business as well as investing in the business of an unbeliever. Whenever we place our money in the hands of an unbeliever, for the sake of their business, looking for a share of the profits from our investment, then we are being yoked together with unbelievers. The greater problem is that when we yoke ourselves in that manner, we might well be giving our money over to Satan for one of his plots to destroy the soul of people. We cannot know for sure if the company we invest in does not support Planned Parenthood, or gay marriage, or even have investments in gentleman clubs or the porn industry. Would marrying an unbeliever worse than that? We cannot have any sort of agreement, signed contract, investment plan, IRA, 401K or any form of being yoked in any manner. It is so plan and so simple, yet so many have their eyes blinded to this truth. We should not sit on any board of directors with unbelievers, casting our vote in agreement with them. We should not have any business dealers where our money and theirs is joined together in any way shape or form. This is truly coming out from them and being separate. This does not apply to living life with them, being involved in the daily living, as that is who we might share the gospel message. If we withdraw from life in any manner, from unbelievers, than we cannot share the gospel with them, which is what we are called to do. So we should live among them, but not be in partnership with them. Yes, there are activities which we abstain from which that indulge in. Yes, abstaining is being separate. But that should not be a barrier between our being involved in their lives, in order to share the gospel message. The not being yoked has everything to do with a shared investment. Do not be yoked.