Verse of the day: Judges 3:6, And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.
This cannot be said enough…we must NOT yoke ourselves to the unsaved. God was very clear with Israel that they were to avoid being unequally yoked with people who did not follow and worship the one true God. That command did not die with Christianity. If anything, God re-emphasized it, through the Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ 17 Therefore, ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ 18 ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.’” Far too often, we will convince ourselves that the person we are with, who is not a born again believer, will become a Christian. However, what I see, more often than not, is the Christian beginning to do the things that their unsaved boyfriend or girlfriend prefers. Even worse, born again believers marry unsaved people, and as time passes, and children are born to the couple, other things such as children’s sports, day events, and family gatherings, become more important than going to church and serving God. The unsaved do not understand the concept of giving to the church or missions. In friendships, it is almost a guarantee that the Christian will start doing the things that their unsaved friends prefer. God warned us in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’” I can hear it now, “Just because my friends are not saved, that doesn’t make them evil.” How many of our unsaved friends encourage us not to use foul language? How many of our unsaved friends insist on us living godly lives? How many of our unsaved friends encourage us to turn to God when things go awry? There are many issues (too many to list here) that arise when we yoke ourselves to the unsaved and the world; whether in personal relationships, or business relationships. Israel did not heed God’s warning and it cost them dearly. They did evil before the Lord and ended up being enslaved by these very people. If we are careless in heeding God’s warning to us, we will find ourselves enslaved to profane language, addiction to substances, sexual practices that violate God’s Word, and so on. When we stray from God, His Word, and forsake the gathering together with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25), we set ourselves up to become lovers of the world (1 John 2:15-17). I will say, from personal experience, that there is nothing that compares to being yoked in a relationship with another believer, whether in friendship, business, or marriage, where we can find godly encouragement in difficult times. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to praise God together, through good and bad times, and have the ability to give to others without having to justify continually why we give. The bottom line is, when we choose the unsaved as partners in any venture, we set ourselves up to worship someone, or something, other than our one true God, Lord and Savior. The consequences can, and will, be devastating. On the other hand, to choose to be equally yoked with a believer, and serve God together, will result in both earthly blessings and eternal blessings.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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