Building Good Influence

 “Now when the adversaries…heard…they were building the temple…they came…and said to them, ‘Let us build with you…’ But [the leaders] said to them, ‘You may do nothing with us to build…’” Ezra 4:1-3

Over the course of my marriage to Bruce there has been no shortage of projects he has worked on. Many times, he would enlist my help so I would set aside time to help him. Most of the time I would just stand there doing nothing but watch him work. Oh, occasionally I would have to run down into the garage to grab something or fast forward to the next song on the music we were listening to. But he always appreciated the fact that an extra pair of feet and hands were with him. But can you imagine if I didn’t have his best interest at heart and I offered to help him? I would have the access to complicate or frustrate his project, possibly compromising the success of his work.

That is what was happening as the children of Israel were trying to rebuild. They were approached by a group of people who were compromised in their faith. They served God but as one of many gods instead of the THE God. The leaders who were in charge of the work were both aware of their adversaries and protective of the temple for which they were building. They were whole-heartedly devoted to obeying God and protecting the things of God. They knew that ‘to receive their help was to invite their influence. And to invite their influence was to endanger the purity and single-minded devotion of the Jews. We, too, must be wise in our relationships. In our relationships, we love all with the love of Christ, yet we also vet everybody through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.’ Take Courage, Jennifer Rothschild, p. 50-51.

Our devotion to God will be directly impacted by those with whom we surround ourselves. Are we allowing people to help us ‘build our temple’ who are double-minded in their relationship with God? Are we living out habits that compromise the purity of our ‘temple?’ We should all seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to determine what habits compromise our faith, and which people endanger our spiritual walk. Just like the Jews, we must be picky and protective of whom or what we allow to influence our lives. Only through the vetting of the Holy Spirit can we be guided into a circle of influence that shares our devotion to God.