With Whom Are You Walking? February 4

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amos 3:3. Even some who are striving for the mastery over the enemy develop a predisposition to do wrong. Evil prevails over good because they do not trust wholly in Christ. They do not abide in Him, and because of their lack of dependence on God, they show inconsistency of character. But no one is compelled to choose this class as familiar associates. The temptations of life are met everywhere, and those who complain of the church members’ being cold, proud, haughty, un-Christlike, need not associate with this class. There are many who are warmhearted, self-denying, self-sacrificing, who would if necessary lay down their lives to save souls. Let none then become accusers of the church members, but let the tares grow together with the wheat, for thus Christ has said it should be. But we are not under the necessity of being tares ourselves, because the harvest is not all wheat. Those who reject the life and character of Jesus, refusing to be like Him, declare themselves to be in controversy with God. “He that is not with me is against me,” Christ declares, “and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Those who love God will not choose His enemies as their friends. The question is asked, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them which hate the Lord?” True Christians will not choose the society of non-Christians. If the Lord gives them a special position in the world, as He gave Joseph and Daniel, He will keep them from being contaminated. We need to discern good from evil. We need all the help and instruction that comes from a true faith. We need to listen to the inculcation of Scripture doctrines, which are free from the sophistry and deception of the great deceiver. We need to live in as pure a religious atmosphere as possible, that we may bring solid timbers into our character-building. By association with those who have no faith in God, wrong ideas are imperceptibly insinuated into mind and heart by the master worker of deception. These prove the ruin of many. Will you choose the association of the irreligious and the disloyal who are openly transgressing God's law? Will you separate yourselves by your own choice from those who love God? Will you place yourselves as far from the light as possible? This is the way of delusion. You will never be where you will find too much light, but woe to those who choose darkness rather than light.—Manuscript 49, 1893.