Don’t Run with the Big Dogs

(Proverbs 25:6 KJV)  Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:

Did you ever stand on the side lines and watch the Big Man on Campus when you were young?  Perhaps you have a version of that in your life now.  I don’t know if it is a defense mechanism or if I am really over it but I avoid hanging with the cool people.  I still get a rush when there is genuine acknowledgment by the top dogs, but I don’t seek it.

That is much healthier than wanting to be accepted.  We have a greater chance of living righteous lives if we are not trying to be accepted by the openly unrighteous or the modern Pharisees.  When it is important to us to be accepted we are much more likely to compromise God’s standards and eventually drift away from the truth.  At least that is true for me.

So?  Don’t try to run with the big dogs.  Don’t want approval from the power brokers.  That kind of focus will not bring us to hear the words of Jesus, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”