Not Your Friend

“Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.” (Eze 22:5 AV)

Those that cause the saint to fall, mocking them as a result, never mock themselves for the same behavior.  Israel and Judah went after the life style of their pagan neighbors.  They took up their idols and their vices.  When the consequences of their sin came upon them, the tempters ridiculed the righteous for their fall.  Even though they were guilty of the same.  The saint must realize Romans 1:32 is still true.  Misery loves company.  The thing is, there is more enjoyment of the wicked when the righteous fall than there is when they fall.

What child has not been enticed into foolish behavior by a companion?  They are caught by the authority all the while their companion seemed to escape the trap of justice.  The one who was once a good friend is not off on the sidelines, laughing at the calamity he or she has caused.  I remember when one of my brothers was taken into custody and brought to our father for reckless actions.  His good friend enticed my brother to stand on a train trestle, throwing snowballs as cars that would pass under.  One of those cars was a police patrol car.  Bad move.  My brother’s friend realized what happened and took off.  My brother froze.  He stood there and was taken by the police.  His friend was relieved that he got away and teased my brother for being slow.  It was not my brother’s idea.  But he followed.  In doing so, he got caught while his tempter got off scot-free.

It goes without saying that a man’s reputation, or in this case, the saint’s testimony is all that he really has.  All the material things of life will pass with the using.  But what he has and can control within the bounds of his own will is his testimony.  The friends that we think we have may not be friends at all.  If we think they will be there to support us when things go bad, we have another thing coming.  They will not be there with hearts of compassion, understanding, and relief.  They will be there to laugh at us that we are ignorant or foolish as they.  The name and testimony of the saints of God an His Church is so important.  We are not perfect.  We will fail.  It is part of being human.  We have the sin nature to battle and we often loose.  But we do not have to lose in front of an audience.  Especially those who led us that way as a form of entertainment.