I Can See Your Future
We’re wrapping up our Student nights for the semester in our second week of this series called Obedience. We’ve seen that discipleship is a journey and not a moment.
When it comes to the journey of our discipleship, the thing that will have the greatest impact is our friendships.
A few weeks ago, I was watching some of our students at Mercer County’s production of the Wizard of Oz. The moment in the story where Dorothy is upset and has run away from home, she comes across a snake oil salesman. He has her clothes, her eyes, and as she does, he searches through her bag, looking for clues that will help him seem to have mystical powers.
We think about being able to tell the future; this is often the type of person we think about.
I want you to ask yourself what you would do if you could tell the future? Would you go and use your knowledge to make some good sports bets or put some money on the stock market? Would you look into the future and see what your future family or job would look like?
Believe it or not, I can tell the future. I can tell your future. And I want to share the secret of seeing the future with you.
If you want to see your future, look around. Pastor Craig Grochell says, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”
Sociologists will tell you that in five years you’ll be the same person you are today except for the books you read and the people you spend the most time with.
Solomon wrote to his son in Proverbs 13:20, “The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.”
Our relationships are the singular thing that will have the greatest impact on our journey in life and faith. It’s important who you travel with. There are some people that you could fly first class to an all-expenses-paid resort and share a week in misery. There are others that you could drive cross-country in a 1998 Honda Accord and have the greatest adventure of your life.
Numbers chapter 11, we see the power of relationships at play in the story of God’s people. The Israelites were provided manna from heaven by God to feed them while they were in the wilderness. But for a certain group of them, this wasn’t enough.
They began to complain and rallied the crowd behind them. Moses was angry and went to God for help. God raised up 70 people to help lead and take the pressure off of Moses and to keep the people from following the wrong things.
Who you trust matters. Your friendships matter. Your dating relationships matter. Mentors matter. If we want to follow Jesus faithfully, we need the right people around us.
So what are the types of people that we see in Numbers chapter 11? What are the characteristics of the right kind of relationships and influences?
I love that in Numbers 11:4 scripture refers to these people as “the riffraff.” These are the people that stirred up complaints and caused the Israelites to begin to turn their hearts away from God.
This can happen so quickly when we are influenced by the wrong people. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Psalm 1 instructs to take advice from the wicked, or stand in the places where sinners congregate or sit with those who are evil.
These “riffraff” type of influences or friendships are people who are controlled by their appetites. They were being fed by God, but that wasn’t enough for them. They wanted what they wanted. They missed the Egyptian diet.
We need to be cautious of friends or influences who can’t control themselves. People who have no discipline. Maybe it’s financial self-discipline that they lack. For some people, they lack the discipline to control their words. It’s not our place to judge others, but it is our place to protect those who have influence over our lives.
Also, I see that the “riffraff” were quick to complain. We need to be careful with influences that always see the negative. The people who are quick to criticise everyone and everything. If we spend time with negative people, we will become negative.
These people were also slow to volunteer. They saw this problem, or at least what they perceived as a problem, that the people had no meat to eat, but we don’t see them trying to be the solution. They don’t go pray and ask God to send meat. They don’t offer to go hunting or fishing (yes, I understand this was the wilderness). They aren’t willing to help solve the problems.
Are your friends people who work hard? Who are quick to help others? Are we being influenced toward love and good works like it talks about in Hebrews 10?
Last, these “riffraff” type influences are people who lack gratitude. God had provided for his people. It doesn’t say they were hungry. They just wanted something different. They weren’t grateful for what God had done for them.
We should surround ourselves with people who are full of gratitude.
These are the negative characteristics of friends or influences, but I don’t want to miss out on the characteristics of the men that God calls to help Moses.
These men who are already leading by example. (Numbers 11:16) Are our influences and friends people like this? Are they respected by others? Are they leaders not just in their words but in how they live?
These men are also quick in their willingness to go to the Lord. God tells Moses to call them to the tent of meeting. This was the place outside the camp where Moses and Joshua would go to meet with the presence of God. These men are ready to respond when God calls them.
The right kinds of friends and relationships are people that we can pray with. They are people that we can go to church with. These are people who are encouraging us in our walk with God.
These men are full of God’s Spirit. God places the Spirit that is in Moses on these men as they come arround him and support him. Are our friends people who are living lives lead by God’s Spirit? Are they walking and growing in the Spirit?
Lastly, these men are supportive. They are given this task and they respond. The get to doing what God has called them to do and help their friend.
What kind of friend are you? What kind of people are you surrounded by? If we want to follow Jesus for the long-haul - to be a slow burn - we are going to need the right people around us.
