Guarding Your Relationship with God

“Pilate said to them, ‘You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.’” “From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, ‘If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.’” [1]

Pilate turned against an innocent man, in fact against his Savior and Lord, due to pressure from others.

“He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.” [2]

Love of pleasure, drinking alcohol and extravagant spending… these ill-advised choices can cause one to lose the richness of a close relationship with God which they once enjoyed.

King David wrote a song that could be summarized as guarding one’s relationship with God:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” [3]

This person guards his/her relationship with God more than anything else.

On the flipside is the person who is careless about their relationship with God…

“The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” [4]

There is a way of escape from deadly peer pressure, from the love of pleasure, and from ungodliness. It is via repentance of sin to God, asking His pardon and admitting one’s need for Him, and asking for His help.

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion for us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” [5]

[1] John 19:7, 12
[2] Proverbs 21:17
[3] Psalm 1:1-3
[4] Psalm 1:4-6
[5] Micah 7:18-19