Where are you standing?

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2

"Nor stand in the path of sinners".....what can that mean? Does that mean that we shouldn't associate with sinners?

How else can we develop relationships with people to be able to tell them about God's amazing grace and how He sent His only Son to accept the sin of the World and die for that sin to offer us the opportunity to come to know God. All we have to do is repent for our sins and ask Jesus to save us and He will do so.

We definitely have to develop relationships with people who do not have a relationship with Christ. If we don't, most of the time they would not listen to us; their perspective could be that we feel like we are better than them because we are Christians. Who wants to be with someone like that? If the world sees us in that light, then how can we be "light" in their dark worlds? We can't. We have to develop relationships with those who do not know Christ as their Savior. We have to love them where they are.

That, however, does not mean that we have to "love" their behavior that is unGodly or even that we have to tolerate that kind of behavior in our presence. The way to handle that is to ask them kindly not to use God's name in vain, to please not use foul language around you because it bothers you...by handling those things in love and without condemnation, you give them something to desire in their lives.

We have to be wise about where and how we hang-out with non-Christians. It doesn't mean that we participate in their lifestyles that disagree with our Christian belief. We have to stand firm on the principles of God in our behavior regardless of whom we are around. That is exactly what it means to not stand in the path of sinners. We don't need to get comfortable in an environment that is not honoring God. There are many ways to walk away from the sin (not standing in the path) and still love the sinner.

Dr. Easley challenged us this week to step outside the walls of the church. We can't share the hope we have with the world if we don't step outside the church. We have to think of ways to involve our community across the street, and touch the communities across the state, and reach out to the communities across the seas. It is the simplest thing but requires us to come out of our comfortable pews and touch others that may be just a little different or that we don't know yet.

We have to walk through those paths to let them see "salt and light" in our lives that becomes a beacon to their heart. Be wary Christian woman, others are watching you to see how you are going to behave when the stress and struggles of life come your way. Will they continue to see Christ in you? Oh, I struggle with that one - when I am stressed, I have to stop myself and look at how I react. It is not something I am proud of many times. We have to choose to keep walking through those areas and not to stop and stand in the path of sinners. It can pull us in the other direction is we stop right there on the edge and watch.

It really is all about the choices we make.......do you stand in the path of sinners?