Walking with the Wise

UV 2269/10000 Walking with The Wise
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed
Proverbs 13 v 20

To walk with the wise implies to talk with the wise. A person who perfects his tongue is wise as he passes his thoughts, words and emotions through many sieves before anything escapes from his lips. Our company can truly corrupt our minds. The kind of conversation we have with those we spend most of our time influences our lives in many ways. Our choices, our lifestyle, our habits are influenced by our companions just as iron sharpens iron.

Likewise, those who spend time in the company of the unwise end up behaving like them. Their decisions, speech and conduct would be influenced by people with a corrosive impact on values just as rusted iron passes on the rust on whatever it is rubbed on. Peer pressure compels most teenagers to make wrong choices early in life such as drinking heavily, smoking, doing drugs, having premarital sex and so on. King Rehoboam, the successor of the wisest king Solomon instead of heeding the counsel of the older and wiser chose to listen to his younger friends and thereby, made himself a wicked and unfit ruler.

Walking and talking with Jesus is the most positive of influences in our lives. He will guide us in our relationships. He will give us discernment and true spiritual wisdom to make the best decisions in every situation in life. Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we should realize that the Lord is present with us even when we do not recognize Him. We should listen intently to His voice and His word and allow it to burn the truths of life into our hearts. We should allow His word to comfort us in our moments of anguish, to encourage us and enable us to stay blessed and victorious. To walk with Jesus is to follow His example in all aspects of our lives, to discern what He would do in any given situation and then, go ahead and do it. To walk with Jesus is to also live in fellowship and unity with other believers in such a way as to build our faith and theirs in a wholesome or holistic way. Instead of being influenced by the wayward, the foolish, the godless and the wicked, we should learn to appreciate the good points of our fellow believers and try not just to appreciate it but to emulate it in our lives.

Prateep V Philip