SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS AND I WILL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE

SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS

One of the indisputable laws of

RELATIONSHIP is that you become like those you associate with, friends or family, whether you intend to or not. Many years ago a man named Max Jukes lived in New York. He did not believe in Christ or Christian training. He fathered 13 children. He refuse to take his children to church, even when they asked to go. He has 1,026 descendants. Of these

300 were sent to prison for an average term of thirteen years; 190 were public prostitutes; 509 were admitted alcoholics and drug addicts. His family, thus far, cost the state in excess of $420,000 Surely the agnostic influence of Max Jukes filtered

down through his many descendants who made no contribution to society.

Coincidentally, Jonathan Edwards another man lived in the same state at the same time as Jukes. Strangely, he too fathered 13 children, but he loved the Lord and saw that his children were not only in church every service but ensured their devotion to the things of God. This beloved preacher himself served the Lord to the best of his ability.

Jonathan and his wife Sarah, are among the most notable parents in American history. By 1900, the descendants of their eleven children included thirteen college presidents, sixty-five professors, one hundred lawyers(including one Dean of an outstanding law school) thirty judges, sixty-six physicians (including one Dean of a medical school), 135 editors, one publisher, and more than one hundred overseas missionaries.

Among these were the writer O. Henry, the publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday, and the writer Robert Lowell. Eighty of their descendants held public office, including three U.S Senators, mayors of three large cities, governors of three states, and one U.S vice president, Aaron Burr Jr. There was also one U.S first Lady, Edith Roosevelt(the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt) , and one controller of the U.S. Treasury, Robert Walker Taylor, the generational legacy of Edwards's children reflects how the influence of a sincere follower of Jesus Christ is passed down through history.

Edwards had 929 descendants, and of these , 430 were Ministers; 86 became University Professors; 13 became University Presidents; 75 authored books; 7 were elected to United States Congress; while 3 were Governors. One of his descendant was vice President of his nation.

Jonathan Edwards' descendants never cost the state one cent. This

great preacher not only influenced his era for Christ; his Christian

beliefs and values filtered down through his many descendants. Who contributed immeasurably to the life of plenty in America.

Friends, beliefs, values and association are contagious. The people and the places you spend time each week will go a long way to determine what we become in life.

N:B> He who walks (as a companion) with wise men is wise, but he who associates with (Self-confident) fools is (a fool himself) and smart (Suffer) for it".