In TFA, as Rey, Finn, Han, and Chewie are flying over Takodana on their way to see Maz Kanata, Rey looks out the viewport and is awestruck.
She softly states, “I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy.”
Having lived on the desert world of Jakku for most of her life, Rey was not used to seeing much more than sand. Her ability to imagine lush green worlds was non-existent because of the environment in which she grew up in.
Rey was “hardened” by her surroundings and learned how to survive the hostile world she lived on.
We, too, are shaped and influenced by our environment.
Therefore, we need to be careful about the environment that we allow ourselves to live in and the people with whom we associate with.
Jim Rohn is credited with saying, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Scripture as well speaks to what our environment can do to us. In 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”
Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”
Paul talks about how believers are to live in Ephesians 5:1-21.
In verse 11, believers are told, “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
While we can and should visit places and people that are not yet saved, we should not partake of the evil that is done there.
When we get caught up in one type of environment, it will blind us to what is possible.
