"He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." (Proverbs 13:20).
Over the last few weeks, through the book of Proverbs, we have been seeing the kinds of people and things in our lives that we are to be avoiding. This time let us look at life from the other perspective and see who we should rather be associating with, and what should be filling our lives. The answer is obvious, but is often overlooked or ignored.
Wise Company
When you look at the verse above, you see that Solomon does not say that by hanging around with fools makes you a fool yourself, no, he takes it further than that. He says that by associating with fools, one will suffer harm. Think of this in a parenting situation. As a parent, would you tell your teenage son not to hang out with the drug addicts and bullies of the school simply because by doing so he will become a fool? No. Rather you would encourage him to avoid them because their behaviour and attitude will influence him to the extent that he will become like them, and that it could lead to hardship for him as well. This is exactly what the second half of our verse is saying - by being a companion of fools, you will become like them and suffer the same hardships, if not worse.
However, as the first half of the verse tells us, it is better that we associate with those wiser than ourselves. It is like telling your teenage son to rather be friends with other teenagers at church or family friends who you as a parent know well because they will have a better influence on him. We too need to have wise people that we can look up to so that we can be influenced in a positive way by them.
God's Wisdom
The best place to find wisdom and to be influenced correctly is by spending time in the Bible. Psalm 119 is full of references to the wisdom and positive outcomes of studying and following God's law, of which verses 97-100 sum up what I am saying:
"O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts."
The best friend we could have to influence us in the way we should live is God and His Word, the Bible. The writer of Psalm 119 clearly understood this.
Good Associations
The wise warnings in the book of Proverbs tell us to stay away from those things that so easily destroy us. To keep away from the edge of the pit of foolishness as it were. And it is not only for the sake of remaining wise and not becoming fools, but mainly due to the fact that to fall into the pit is to fall to our destruction, death, and maybe even into hell itself.
By associating with foolish people and allowing them to influence us draws us closer to that edge quicker and more subtly than we realise. We need to rather associate with wise people and with God's Word.
Are you associating with godly people? Are you spending time in the Word, searching out God's wisdom and allowing it to influence your life? If not, now is the time to put aside your foolish friends and foolish counsel and to seek out godly people in your life. Whether they be wise family members, business associates, or elders and pastors in your local church, seek them out and spend as much time with them as you can. And spend time in the Word by reading it daily, joining a Bible study, or going to a good Bible believing church.
Foolish people corrupt us, but godly people correct us.
Just a Thought!
© 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment