Proverbs 27:17 ‘Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.’

DAILY READING – – • Matthew 25; 31-46; Numbers 32-34; Job 2

Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens was one of America’s best authors and humorists. He was best known for his novels, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.
Mark Twain did not have much regard for the Christian faith and didn’t believe in Heaven or life after death. However, he married a simple and devout young Christian woman named Oliva.
At the beginning of their marriage, Oliva got her husband to join her in prayers at meals and to read the Bible each day. But as time went on, Mark Twain began to exert greater influence on his wife with his anti-religious views. Also as she traveled the world with him and became exposed to other religions, people, places, and philosophies, her faith gradually began to diminish.
After a while the prayers and Bible reading stopped in their home and Oliva gave up some of her religious beliefs.
Their marriage faced a lot of hardship and difficulties. Their many financial catastrophes made Mark Twain to declare bankruptcy in the 1890s. Their only son died in infancy and two of their three daughters died as young women.
During one of those sad times in their lives, Mark Twain suggested to his wife to lean on her Christian faith for comfort, but she replied that she couldn’t because she had no faith left.
Mark Twain loved his wife devotedly, but apparently his unbelieving attitude had an effect on her that even he didn’t want. After her death in 1904, Mark Twain felt responsible for causing his wife to lose her faith and the thought came back to haunt him many times till his own death.

People we walk closely with can influence our earthly journey and eternal destination.
The Bible asks us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers for an important reason. This is because of the power of influence.
Those we spend most of our times with will make great impact on our lives. Eventually their good or bad qualities will rub off on us.

For instance, Proverbs 22:24-25 says one should not hang around a hot-tempered person or you’ll become hot-tempered too like them.

Certainly, we should be careful with our associations..
We should always ensure we surround ourselves with those who will sharpen us to become better and inspire us to go further in our relationship with God. The truth is that anyone who is not adding to your life is subtracting from it. Anyone who is not sharpening you spiritually, will eventually cause you to become blunt.

Proverbs 27:17 says ‘As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.’

We should aim for relationships that sharpen us spiritually.
You cannot afford to allow another person to become a stumbling block to your spiritual progress no matter how much you loved them.
The Heavenly race is a personal race. At the end of the day everyone stands alone before God to give account of their lives on earth. Certainly, no one is worth missing Heaven for.
As we draw close to the end of this year, it is a good place to re-evaluate our relationships and ensure our spiritual life is not being compromised in any way.

If perhaps your spouse, children or close family members are lagging behind spiritually, do not leave them in that state, or else the enemy will ensure they become thorns and temptations that constantly frustrate your spiritual walk. Rather begin praying for them and encouraging them in God’s Word until they become spiritually fervent. The truth is that you are either going to positively influence them or they are going to negatively influence you.
But by God’s grace, together with our loved ones, we will continue to burn with zeal for Christ and run our race well, without losing our fire.
None of us shall be left behind and none shall be a stumbling block to another. Rather, continually our testimony shall be ‘As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.’ [Joshua 24:15]

PRAYER: Lord, please keep far from me anyone who will hinder my spiritual life in any way. Bring to me destiny helpers and those who will help me to stay spiritually fervent so that I can run my race well and continually bring glory to You in all I do in Jesus Name.

QUOTE;
Nothing liberates like truth, the truth you know and act upon will set you free.- WORDBITE 222