There is no doubt that men’s lives influence, to some degree, the lives of others, especially of those who are near to them. Scripture gives us a number of examples which illustrate this principle at work. Its first occurrence was right at the outset of human history when Eve succumbed to the tempter’s allurements. It can be seen that she did not fall alone but she dragged her husband with her into the morass of sin. She “also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” At that time, the human family was limited to those two persons, but the evil which affected the one affected the other also, and the race.

Even the history of the patriarch Abraham demonstrates how surely the principle operates. When conditions of famine made life in Canaan difficult, he went to Egypt for a time, and of course took with him his wife and their servants. An unhappy incident occurred there concerning Sarah, in which some dubious behavior on the part of Abraham comes to light. The couple also acquired a local girl as a maid for Sarah. The results of that visit affect the world today and still pose modern Israel many questions, which neither they nor the clever diplomats of the world are able to solve. Abraham did not go to Egypt alone, nor did he return to Canaan alone.

Readers of the Old Testament will be able to supplement these examples with other instances in which an individual course of action had wide repercussions, and it is not difficult to see why.

May we be helped by the Lord to follow Him closely, so that others may be attracted to go after Him also, and that we might be able to say with sincerity and truth: “Come with us, and we will treat you well” (Num. 10:29).