No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:4.
The Lord Jesus would have His purchased possession disentangle themselves from everything that would expose them to temptation. We are the Lord's by creation; we are His by redemption. All our senses are to be kept sharp and keen that we may place ourselves in right relation to God.
The company we choose will be a help or a hindrance to us. We are not to run any risk by placing ourselves where evil angels will surround us with their temptations and their snares. Satan ... puts his alluring temptations before the soul. He appears as an angel of light and clothes his temptations with apparent goodness. Our first work is to disentangle ourselves from everything that is in any way calculated to tarnish the soul.
If the Bible is not made the rule of life, our hereditary and cultivated habits and tastes will ensnare the soul.... The soul is of value, and is regarded by God as more precious than gold, even the golden wedge of Ophir. Christ has given us the estimate He places upon the human soul. Look at His humiliation, His sufferings, His death. Had He studied His pleasure, His choice, His convenience, He would never have left the royal courts of heaven....
After the human agent has spent his life in following his own impulses, placing his talents on the shrine of Satan, choosing his own interests, what has he gained? Cheap worldly applause. And what has he lost? An eternity of blessedness....
God calls upon us, in the place of expending our powers, our talents, and the vigor of brain and muscle upon unimportant, frivolous things, merely to amuse and gratify self, to bring eternity to view and hold ourselves under the control of the Holy Spirit's guidance. Elevated, pure, ennobling themes are to be the subjects of contemplation. To us individually as His property God says, “Know ye not ... ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).21Manuscript 21, 1898.
From In Heavenly Places - Page 170
In Heavenly Places