Don’t Play With Fire

Proverbs 6:27

Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? (ESV)

Have you ever recognized that something is negatively affecting your life, but you still have a hard time letting it go and giving it up?  For instance, in college I loved movies like Pride and Prejudice, but I realized that watching so many movies that all end in happy marriages was making my struggle with singleness even more of a burden.  However, even after recognizing that connection, I wasn’t exactly willing to give up my favorite movies.  Now, to struggle with singleness isn’t a sin, but there are similar circumstances where we can be drawn to sin by something in our life whether it be media that we look at, music we listen to, friends that we hang out with, events that we attend, etc.

What are some of those areas in your life?  Does music you listen to or movies you watch cause you to struggle with your thoughts?  Do friends influence you to gossip or do things that you know you shouldn’t be doing?  Are you sneaking out to hang out with them?  There are so many dangers in the world around us that we need to be on the guard for.  First Corinthians 15:33 reminds us that, “Bad company ruins good morals.”  You can have the best intentions to do the right thing and not fall into certain sins, but if you’re not careful about who you hang out with, those values can get overridden quickly.

This Proverb reminds us that you can’t carry fire close to your chest without getting burned; in other words, you can’t hang out in bad company and expect to not be corrupted in some way.  You can’t watch dirty movies and expect to have your mind guarded from sinful thoughts.  You can’t listen to music full of foul language and expect not to have it rub off on you.  Everything you fill your life with matters and has an impact.

Think about what things in your life are affecting you negatively.  It may be spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.  Now commit to ridding your life of that thing no matter the cost.  Ask God to help you.  Let a friend know who will be able to help keep you accountable.  God wants to free you from that burden, so call out to him; don’t continue to be a slave to a negative influence.