4 November 2020
Social distancing versus spiritual distancing
While social distancing is now part of our day to day life, it has surprising parallels within the Bible referred to as “Spiritual Distancing.” Which means taking measures to keep ourselves from being spiritually infected by things that could damage our spiritual well-being.
Psalm 1:1 NIV “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers”
Notice in this verse that we have three actions: walk, stand, and sit.
Walk - To ‘walk’ gives the idea of how one behaves. One behaving according to the truth of the Word of God
3 John 1:4 (KJV) “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
Ephesians 4:1 (NKJV) “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
Stand - Galatians 5:1 (NKJV) “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
Sit - Ephesians 2:5-6 (NKJV)” even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”
1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NKJV) “Abstain from every form of evil.”
To avoid the appearance of evil, or every form of evil, means to stay far away from evil. Rather than flirting with what could lead us into sin, we avoid evil altogether. Avoiding the appearance of evil, or abstaining from every form of evil, means to live in God’s light by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:11 (ESV)”Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
When we avoid every kind of evil, we “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”
Romans 13:14 (ESV) “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Proverbs 1:10 (AMP) “My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.”
We must practice separation and detachment from the influence of those that would take away from our spiritual wellness