16/06/2011 - People to be avoided

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“Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.” (Proverbs 22:24-25)

The Word of God instructs us to avoid many kinds of people, among them are the angry and furious men. The objective of such warning is for us not to learn the way those people behave and thus avoid a snare for our soul. Either the angry or the furious men walk in ways that are not good and which will eventually lead to traps set up by the devil.

When people fall prey to anger and become furious they start to walk down winding roads and they don’t even realize how much harm they are causing to themselves and also to their household. Those who follow them will also go down the same way that leads to death. The disciple of the angry man starts seeing things that God has not shown; he heeds counselling that does not come from the Holy Spirit and makes decisions that enslave him spiritually. The furious and the angry men do not realize who is the lord of their life.

The individual who has a chip on his shoulder and rants about everything cannot see that the devil is knocking on his door. Condoning the idea of being short-fused is tantamount to telling the tempter that now he has a servant who is at his disposal.  On the other hand, he who follows Christ is calm because it is not convenient for him to quarrel (2 Timothy 2:24) since he has the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). He knows that if someone takes away his cloak he must not withhold his tunic either (Luke 6:29). An individual will not find righteousness by quarrelling, insulting or trusting in the strength of his own arms, but by obeying the Lord (Psalm 20:7; 4:1; 7:8; 18:20).

There are so many paths for us to tread that we do not need to use the devil’s tricks to achieve sucess. Walking the way paved by the one who is the enemy of our soul is not a good thing to do because all he can offer us is evil. Everything that is not edifying must be rejected altogether. Yet, the angry and the furious men ignore the fact that due to the kind of character they have developed they will not be helped by God to walk the ways of righteousness. The Lord cannot contribute to their perdition. If they want to avoid evil they must turn to Christ with all their heart and ask God to deliver them completely.

Shun everything that might become a snare for your life because God wants His children to live free from evil oppression. Those who get stuck in traps set up by the enemy miss out the glory of salvation and live a life of oppression; they feel no zest for life and almost always have negative attitudes towards other people.

As a Father, the Lord looks after our well-being. He made us free in Christ so that we can do His will and take possession of the abundant life brought to us by Jesus. Therefore, do not let yourself be enslaved by the devil and do not give yourself to feelings condemned by the Word of God. Remember that the Most High has traced a path of success for His children. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10). My prayer is that you wake up to that!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares