On my desk I have a perpetual calendar and a little while ago, it had the following verse:
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. Psalm 1:1 NIV
It had a small explanation and I remembered our Pastor had spoken about this late last year. This is about who you choose to keep company with and who you take notice of, perhaps even taken advice from. It could even mean an issue of ethics.
Someone I know some years ago was working with a stockbroking firm but some of the practices carried out in that office made this person feel uncomfortable. He decided that the practices didn’t align with his beliefs or ethics and he left the company, even though he didn’t have another job to go to. But God was good to him and placed him in a better role, using the skills he’d learnt in the former one.
In the business world it is so important that we hold firm to what we believe in and maintain a set of ethics that are right for us, as followers of Christ. There have been odd occasions when I’ve had to tell a client ‘no, I won’t do that’ to something that didn’t appear to be ethically wrong to the person asking, but definitely felt that way to me. It’s important that we can look at something we’re doing and knowing that Jesus is there beside us, we don’t feel uncomfortable about it. That means what we say, what we think, what we do, who we mix with and do things with.
Jesus did minister to those who needed him the most - the sinners - but he did not participate in their practices or way of life and it’s important that we do the same. Not only for our own sakes, but also for those who may be watching us from a distance - we may be a witness to them without even knowing it.
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