Just Don't Do It

For Friday, September 29, 2006
Proverbs 4:24-27

24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Just don't do it. Don't try to fit in with the speech of the unrighteous. Don't talk behind the backs of others under pretense of seeking justice or their good. Don't visit places of temptation in order to understand the needs of sinners. Don't try to fit in with the unrighteous by telling their jokes, speaking their language, and living by their morals.

Keep you eyes on Christ - on his sacrifice for you, on his love for you, on his commands to follow him, on the hope of his return and reward. Follow the example of the apostle Paul: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).