who are you keeping spiritual company with?

                                  "Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."    
                                                                               Proverbs 27:17

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend time with a few fellow believers. This was outside of the church building. It was on our own time. We came together to discuss a portion of scripture as we are used to doing monthly in our bible study.  We had a blessed time of it. 

Socializing and fellowship are two different things. True fellowship always involves spiritual things being shared. It brings the Lord front and center in our midst, and He speaks through the individuals who are present. The results are blessed indeed because each person can walk away encouraged with a word from the Lord.

Who have you been spiritually keeping company with?  Are the bulk of the conversations all about shop talk, where you're planning your next trip, or what your kids have accomplished? While those things bear some importance, they do nothing for one's spiritual life. It's important to bring more to the table when we're with other Christians.

We have the responsibility to make generous deposits in each other's spiritual bank. In order to do this effectively, we have to daily sit at the feet of the Lord (reading His Word) while allowing Him to minister and speak to us and we to Him via prayer. This will allow us to walk in the Spirit. When another believer comes across our path it affords us an opportunity to share some aspect of the Lord as the conversation permits. This type of encounter can be so sweet, so vital and so uplifting.

Let us be mindful of who we're keeping company with. Not every Christian is spiritually fit to make spiritual deposits. If all we're doing is socializing every time we come in company with fellow Christians, we're missing out on the benefit and blessing of 'fellowship'.  It also means that our spiritual bank accounts are without funds.