Sometimes (many times), change is hard. My wife tells me I don’t like change. This may be the way it is with most people.
Solomon knew we may make choices in life that are hard to change. One area that is hard to change is the people with whom we associate. It takes wisdom for a person to determine to no longer associate with unspiritual people. There comes a time when one must honestly admit that others influence him more than he influences them.
Solomon didn’t beat around the bush. He identified clearly the kind of people he wanted his son to avoid, “…the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words” (Proverbs 2:14-16 NASU).
These may all be, overall, nice people. They might be funny, entertaining and even charismatic. Yet, wisdom screams that we should get away from such. They all have the tendency to turn others into being like them – people who have no relationship with God.
If we are wise, we will find good people and make them our true friends. Solomon said to his son, “So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to the paths of the righteous” (Proverbs 2:20).
Maybe it’s time for a change, for you to say to your friends, “I’m out of here!” Or, related to this, maybe it is time to say, “I’m done watching that TV show,” “I’m finished going to that type of movie” or “I’m not going to read that kind of material anymore.” Realizing that these people and activities pull us down should make us pull away from them. That would be a wise choice.
