Influence of Those Around Us

"11 And now king Noah was about to release him, for he feared his word; for he feared that the judgments of God would come upon him.

 12 But the priests lifted up their voices against him, and began to accuse him, saying: He has reviled the king. Therefore the king was stirred up in anger against him, and he delivered him up that he might be slain." (Mosiah 17:11-12)

This is sad to me.

Abinadi almost was set free instead of burned to death.

One thing that I felt as I was reading this chapter was that we need to choose carefully who we associate with. I know King Noah was a wicked man. However, in this crucial moment, it sounds like he was on the fence, and could have chosen either side. Had his associates been good, righteous people, encouraging him to do the right thing instead of wicked people inciting anger and hatred, it seems to me that this would have been a turning point in his life, let alone the fact that Abinadi would have survived.

While it may not be a life or death situation we might be facing, we all get to the point sometimes when we are on the fence. When we could choose either good or evil. Which way we choose is often heavily influenced by who is around us, and who we have chosen to associate with. If we have chosen to associate with people who hold to our standards, or at least respect them, it will be more likely that they will help tip us over onto the side of the fence that we want to be on.

So choose your friends carefully.