JUN 8

Proverbs 4:14-17
Memorise Psalm 1:1-2
“Enter not into the path of the wicked…”

Who are the people whom you would consider your closest friends? Besides your parents and your siblings, your friends are probably the people who would have the biggest impact on your life; in fact, in some ways, they may influence you even more than your family.

That is why bad company can be such a danger to us in our leading of the reformed life. We may have all the right teachings and doctrines in our heads; we may know, at least in theory, how to guard against pride and hypocrisy and all these sins in our own lives. But when we are faced also with the external influence from the people around us, it can become all too easy to forget these lessons, and to follow instead the ways of our friends. It really matters who you spend the bulk of your time with, especially at an age where peer pressure can be such a strong force to reckon with. Solomon therefore warns us in today’s reading to avoid at all costs the way of the wicked. We are not to enter into their path, nor to go in their way; we are to avoid it, turn from it, and to pass over it. His repeated emphasis of our need to turn away from the wicked shows us how important it really is that we do so. For verse 16 tells us their intentions and desires – they are so preoccupied with doing mischief and luring others into sin, that they would even sacrifice sleep for it! Their lives are all about wicked deeds, things that are totally displeasing to God.

Perhaps you have already encountered friends who would invite you to go clubbing with them, or perhaps a friend has offered you a cigarette. Perhaps you have friends who love to gossip about others, or who often take God’s name in vain. It could be in more subtle things too, such as the advice that they give you and the solutions that they offer to your problems. Whatever it is, it is only a matter of time before you succumb to temptation and join them in their wicked activities, engage in their wicked ways and adopt their wicked worldly philosophies; you may even already have done so. What is the best way to avoid falling into sin? By not even associating yourself with them in the first place! As today’s second reading describes it, such a person who walks not among the ungodly nor stands among sinners nor sits among the scornful is truly blessed. Would you therefore want to continue to mix with bad company, or would you want the blessedness of staying without?

Thought: Do my friends build me up or tear me down?
Prayer: Lord, grant me godly friends, and that I may be a godly friend!