In Proverbs, chapter twenty-nine, verse eighteen, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” “Vision” means revelation here. When there is no clear revelation and bold declaration of God’s will and standards, God’s people lose their Biblical convictions, cast off their moral restraints, and subsequently perish, as in the example in Exodus thirty-two, verse twenty-five. The revealed will of God and His righteous demands as expressed in Scripture must be repeatedly kept before the congregation, or many will begin to conform to the world, and transgress God’s law, as in Romans twelve, verse two, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The challenge for believers and leaders who serve God through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not to be like the world. There are so many influences the devil will use to bring down the children of God. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father must be pure and clean from all influences of the ungodly. The enemy will attempt to use earthly things to sway believers from the straight and narrow way. The devil will use family friends, the things we love that are of the world, to keep us from living godly.
There are two things the believer must uphold to avoid declining and falling back into the world. First, it is reading and studying the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” as in John one, verse one. Second, it is praying. Having a prayerful life daily is essential to maintaining a godly life and staying connected to God.