Therefore “go out from their midst, and be separate from them,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18

We all long to have friends. We want good friends who will stick by us through thick and thin, friends we can count on, who encourage us to do the right thing - but still stand by us even when we fail. We value such friends, and we honor them for their faithfulness.

It’s hard to discover that people we thought were our friends (and maybe once were) are taking advantage of our gratitude and loyalty to get us to do things we shouldn’t.

We try to deny it. We don’t want to believe it. We feel guilty when we have to walk away from the relationship, because we remember their past loyalty.

But you have been redeemed. The Lord Jesus is calling you to leave the old ways behind, to come out from among them and separate yourself from them. If some of them want to come along in your new life that would be great, but those who don’t want to break with the old ways will have to be left behind. It’s never easy.

But in the process of separating yourself from the old friends you discover a new relationship. ”then I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.

No friendship on earth, no human relationship can compare to the experience of knowing almighty God as your own loving Father, and being welcomed as His beloved child.

Father, I sometimes cling to old relationships out of misplaced loyalty and guilt. I’m lured and enticed away from You by my desire for human friendships, and I fall into temptations I could have avoided. Help me to make a clean break with sin, to let go of the dirty stuff, to come out from among them, and be separate. Let me experience that new, deeper relationship with You, that You offer me. Amen.

Pastor Dan Giles