Hanging out

Have you ever heard anyone say, "Birds of a feather flock together"?

So often we are judged, by the company we keep. We try to warn our children about keeping the right company – associate with the right friends and all that.

Why is it so important for people to be seen in the right company. You page through the popular magazines and there on the social pages are the pictures of the `in` crowd. If your face is in one of those photos `you’ve arrived`

Networking in business, you have to have the right connections to get ahead in business. I once heard someone say: “It’s not what you know, but who you know, that matters” and another person responded: “Oh no, It’s what you know about who you know, that matters”.

Relationships are so incredibly important. I think it’s perhaps the most important `possession` one might ever accumulate.

We have to protect relationships with all our might. We have to build on the relationships, that add value to our lives and at the same time we must add value to those we come in contact with.

But here is the most important relationship I believe one can ever connect with:

2Co 5:17 So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

Another story I read, given as a true account:

Value by Association

An American tourist in Paris who purchased an inexpensive amber necklace in a trinket shop was shocked when he had to pay quite a high duty on it to clear customs in New York. This aroused his curiosity, so he had it appraised. After looking at the object under a powerful magnifying glass, the jeweler said, "I'll give you $25,000 for it." Greatly surprised, the man decided to have another expert examine it. When he did, he was offered $10,000 more!

"What do you see that's so valuable about this old necklace," asked the astonished man.

"Look through this glass," replied the jeweler. There before his eye was an inscription: "From Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine." The value of the necklace came from its identification with a famous person.

As Christians, we are in union with one who is far more important than any human being. It is from this union that the Christian finds his true identity and worth.

So in an age when man is searching for his past and discovering his potentials, the Christian can rejoice that his true worth comes from God and his identity is found in Jesus Christ.

The question to ask perhaps would be: “if someone places me under a magnifying glass and examines my life and my heart, what inscriptions would they find?”

Makes one think, doesn’t it?