“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”  -Jim Rohn

This quote was the title of a post from one of the blogs that I frequent.  Of course, this is just an idea.  There is no real science behind it.  But it should cause you to pause and think about the people who are influencing your life.  When I think about it, I do find a lot of the characteristics, beliefs, and habits of those people whom I spend my time with to be rubbing off on me. (And I wonder if I am rubbing off on others.  And if so, am I rubbing off in a positive or negative way?)

I tweeted this quote earlier today, stating that I hoped Jesus was in our top five.  I received a comment from a Facebook friend (Rachel Pio) shortly after I tweeted.  She made a pretty obvious but thought-provoking statement.  “Jesus raises the average.”

The more time I spend with Him, the better I become.  It becomes painfully obvious in my every day life.  Let’s just say you can tell when I haven’t spent any time with Him.  But when I do, there is a difference.  As I behold Him, I am changed “from glory to glory” into His image.

Jesus doesn’t just raise the average by being in the top five (if the greatest man is a 10, He is a 100*).  But as I get closer to Him, He removes people/things from my list that bring my average down (dropping the 1-5’s from my circle of influence) and He adds people/things to my list that bring the average up (pastor, mentors, people of like precious faith).

So… Is Jesus in your top five?  Is he shaping your life?  Or did He fail to make the list?

*obviously it would be impossible to assign a number here, you get my point.