Week 38 Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1

You are not the same as those who do not believe. So do not join yourselves to them. Good and bad do not belong together. - 2 Corinthians 6:14 ICB

Adrian Vasquez frantically waved from his tiny fishing boat. A cruise ship was within sight, and Adrian was trying to get the ship’s attention.

After their boat’s engine had failed, Adrian and two friends had been adrift—floating aimlessly—for days on the ocean. Some passengers on the cruise ship spotted Adrian’s boat and told crew members. For some reason, though, the ship didn’t stop to help. Adrian was finally rescued by a different ship two weeks later.

Back in the Bible days of the apostle Paul, people in the church at a city named Corinth seemed to be adrift. They were confused about how to live as Christians. So Paul “tossed them” what we might call the “life ring” of true faith in Jesus. Some of the people had been going to non-Christian religious services (1 Corinthians 10:14–22). They were even worshiping idols! So Paul asked, “What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:15).

There’s a big difference between people who have faith in Jesus and those who don’t. Paul told his readers not to drift away from God but to stay close to shore by hanging on to their faith in Jesus.

Do you have a friend who’s starting to drift away from Jesus? Don’t just cruise by. Stop and help.

The longest recorded survival story at sea belongs to Jose Alvrenga, who spent fourteen months alone on his damaged fishing boat on the Pacific Ocean in 2014.

Today, I’m concerned about my friend ________. Please make sure he doesn’t drift away from you. Thank you.