Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

Psalm 1:1

This does not mean we are to avoid the non-Christian. Not at all.

What we avoid is the way of the wicked, the lifestyle of the ungodly, the mindset of the scoffer.

We are to be different than people around us. Different values, different language, different responses to problems, different perspectives, different ways of thinking, different uses of money, different ambitions. We are different! We are countercultural. We are citizens of heaven not earth.

How does this happen? Do we try to be different? No, God does it. God transforms us, from the inside out. We follow hard after Jesus, and before we realize it, we are different.

The person who lives this way will be blessed by God. God's favor, God's blessing, God's grace will rest upon this man, this woman. And this is what will happen:

He is like a tree planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers (1:3).

If we live this way, we will be:

Richly satisfied (streams of water)
Continually fruitful (yields its fruit)
Deeply alive (leaf does not wither)
Genuinely prosperous (in all that he does, he prospers)

The question is: Who or what is shaping me? The world? Or Jesus?

Follow hard after Jesus. Pursue him with ardor and affection.