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Do not be deceived: 'Evil company corrupts good habits.' (1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV)

When you were a child, you probably heard your father or mother utter the familiar phrase 'Birds of a feather flock together.' What was their point? You were probably starting to hang out with a flock of friends who weren't the best influence on you. Loving parents see things in their children's associations that their children can't (or won't) see. Rather than allow their kids to become corrupted by another's 'evil habits,' they'll put their proverbial foot down because they want to protect their children.

Why would our heavenly Father be any different? How much more does He want to protect our character by warning us against friendships that would undermine the work that He's doing in our lives? He even goes so far as to tell us who we should be hanging out with:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25 NKJV)

Question: Why does God want us to be connected to a local church? Answer: He's a devoted dad who cares who we're hanging out with. He doesn't want the fruit that He's producing in us to turn sour and spoil because our hearts are being corrupted by those who don't share our spiritual standards. Our Father doesn't just tell us who we should and shouldn't spend time with, but He also provides us with the perfect place for this to happen--the house of God.

DIG - Why does God care who we associate and hang out with?

DISCOVER - What investments has your Father made in you? (Hint: read Ephesians 1.) Why would He go to the trouble of protecting this?

DISPLAY - Make a list of your most influential friends, then write down whether they lead you closer to or further away from the things of God.