GANGS, FAMILY, SOLITUDE!

 

Thursday, June 3, 2021

 

GANGS, FAMILY, SOLITUDE!

 

Ex 23:2

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

 

           Consensus is often viewed as confirmation that a selected path or belief system is right. How could it be otherwise since so many agree? To hold an opposing opinion or lifestyle proves that you are in error – doesn’t it? Well, not necessarily.

 

           Some youth, especially in metropolitan cities, will gravitate to gangs because they lack a strong family. The father is often absent, and the mother is overworked so no one is left to provide nurture and guidance. These troubled people huddle together and share a common aimlessness. I suppose it is more comforting to wander with a companion than to drift along in solitude. Peer pressure is a strong incentive to abandon reason.

 

           The Bible, in many places, advises an adherence to truth. “Ye shall know the truth and the ruth shall make you free.” (John 8:32). Unfortunately, the response was:” We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” They agreed together to abandon the memory of Egyptian slavery to declare that they had never been in bondage. This they did, not because they forgot Egypt but to side with those who rejected Christ.

 

            The word “decline,” in our text, is the Hebrew word natah which means “to stretch or spread out; by implication, to bend away (including moral deflection). Do not stretch the truth! Do not follow a belief system that is illogical and unreasonable. Be careful of the gang you run with. Cultivate loyalty to family and, above all, adhere to truth – even if it means standing alone.

 

Dear Lord, help me to thoroughly research the truth and, when I find it, let me stand – even if I must stand alone. AMEN