Don’t form a close partnership or friendship with unbelievers or ungodly believers. It will cause problems in your life just like it did for King Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat of Judah was a godly king (2 Chr 17:5-13; 2 Chr 19:4-11) his whole life. He was such a godly king that he is compared to King David (2 Chr 17:3-6)! But he made the big mistake of forming alliances with evil King Ahab (1 Ki 16:30-33) of Israel and his sons. He made those alliances for what looked like good reasons. One would bring political peace (2 Chr 18:1; 21:1-6), another would bring business and prosperity (2 Chr 20:35-37), and the third was for military strength (2 Ki 3:1-14). All those things seemed good but the results of those alliances brought problems into his whole life – his relationship with God was damaged (2 Chr 19:2), he had personal peril (2 Chr 18:28-32), financial problems (2 Chr 20:37), his son became spiritually corrupted (2 Chr 21:5-6), and his wicked son then spread idolatry in the kingdom (2 Chr 21:11-15).
God told you not to enter alliances with ungodly people (unsaved or ungodly believers) – not as marriage partners, close friends, dating, business partners, or anything else that closely entangles you:
14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? (2 Cor 6:14)
The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm. (Pv 13:20)
14 Don’t set foot on the path of the wicked; don’t proceed in the way of evil ones. 15 Avoid it; don’t travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by. (Pv 4:14-16)
Jehoshaphat learned the hard way that even if a partnership seems smart or beneficial on the surface, violating God’s counsel costs more than it’s worth.
Do not align yourself with people who are not aligned to God. Even if the reasons seem good to you, don’t do it. Do not partner up with the unsaved or ungodly. There is no mixing of light and dark, right or wrong. Partnering with the wrong people will bring problems to your life.
Think about it
What kind of partnerships did Jehoshaphat enter? Did it seem like he had good reasons for doing it?
What were the results?
Have you ever partnered with an ungodly person in any way and suffered for it?
Are you in any partnerships (dating, business, etc) with non-believers or ungodly believers? Should you be?
Is there ever a good reason to go against God’s counsel? Should you be surprised when things go wrong in your life for going against His counsel?
BIBLE DEVOTIONS FOR LIVING 