Popcorn

Our neighbors on both sides of our home have trampolines in their backyards. This proves to be a great attraction to many of the kids in our cul-de-sac including my daughter. I don’t mind her jumping, but there is only one problem. One neighbor has a net around her trampoline and the other does not. So the rule is, you can jump on the one with the net, but not on the other. After all, I have to do as much as I can to keep her safe, right?

Recently I walked out the front door to see a little pink bow bouncing up and down above the fence in the neighbor’s yard – the yard that has a trampoline without a net. Upon calling the little girl wearing the pink bow home, I began the standard what have I told you about disobeying speech. To which my daughter replied, “But I wasn’t jumping! I was sitting and everyone else around me was jumping. We were playing popcorn.”

I guess she thought technically she wasn’t disobeying, but the reality was she could have fallen off and gotten hurt just as easily by the actions of everyone else around her. I began to think about how often we do the same thing with God.

We tell ourselves we are not disobeying, but the friends we choose to associate with or the actions of those around us could cause us to be hurt just as easily as if we were. Maybe it’s not what we would call a “major” disobedience or sin (I realize sin is sin and there is no degree, but that is how we all tend to think sometimes). Maybe it’s just gossip or seeing an R rated movie with foul language. Whatever the scenario, we go along with the group, even though we’ve been told by our Abba Father not to, because we don’t see the danger. We should choose friends with a safety net, not the ones who might jump all around us causing us to fall.

A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12:26

Lord help me to choose my friends wisely and make good decisions that influence others, rather than letting the poor decisions of others influence me.