The World Still Needs God
Yoked Together

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:15-18

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Today’s Scripture Reading may seem odd considering our week’s theme of Christ-followers caring about those who are far from God. The Apostle Paul is warning us not to “yoke” ourselves with unbelievers. He is describing the fine line we must walk as we follow Jesus. We must figure out how to keep our passion for people who need Jesus, without “connecting” to them intimately.

The yoke was a good illustration for the apostle because people at that time used yokes to connect two animals. The yoke made them “as one,” working together. This connection was so tight that one animal’s actions affected and influenced the other animal’s behavior.

The Apostle Paul says with today’s Key Verse: Do not connect yourself with unbelievers such that their actions and behaviors influence your life.

Of course, ideally, we want our lives to influence them. Unfortunately, there comes a point in a relationship when it is likely that an unbeliever will adversely affect us. This is why Paul quotes Isaiah 52:11 – “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Christ-followers should never marry unbelievers. Christ-followers should never form businesses with unbelievers. I will go as far as to say that our “best” friends should be Christ-followers.

All that said, we must care about and get involved with people who need Jesus. We must seek God’s help in forming the boundaries of those relationships. We want a genuine love for a lost person yet seek our deepest relationships with fellow Christ-followers!

Father, grant me discernment in my relationships. Help me to be Your faithful servant, walking among unbelievers yet not looking like them. In Jesus’s Name, amen.