Title: Check Your Friends
Memorize: He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20 (Nkjv)
Bible Reading: Proverbs 1:10-19 (Nkjv)
[10] My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
[11] If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
[12] Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
[13] We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;
[14] Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse”—
[15] My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path;
[16] For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
[17] Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird;
[18] But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.
[19] So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.
Message:
Many years ago, while working as a teacher, I befriended a colleague from the same part of the country as me.
However, I didn’t know much about him. One day, on our way to a teachers’ program in Ibadan, a city in South-West Nigeria, we got off the lorry in lle-lfe, as we needed to board another lorry to lbadan.
This friend of mine then said that he wanted to say hello to a chief nearby, so he asked me to come along.
I followed him, and when we got there, he knocked on a door and was asked a strange question from inside, “Is it a fish or a crab?” My friend answered and said, “One fish and one crab.”
We were let in, but as we left, I began to wonder what this strange statement meant.
When we arrived in lbadan, he said that he wanted to visit another fellow. Again, I followed him there.
When he knocked at the door, he was asked, “Who is that? A goat or a sheep?” My friend answered, “One goat, one sheep.”
By then, I was seriously troubled. When l got home, I asked some elders what the statements meant.
They said knowingly, “Ah, where did you hear that? You could get into serious trouble if you move around with people who have such dialogues.” That was the end of my friendship with that fellow.
My dear child, please check your friends; be mindful of the kind of people you call your friends.
The Bible says that evil communication corrupts good manners (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Key Point:
Your friends are a reflect ion of your values.
Bible Quiz:
He that walks with the wise, shall be …
HYMN 55 – CHRISTIAN, SEEK NOT YET REPOSE
1 Christian, Seek Not Yet Repose;
Hear Thy Guardian Angel Say,
“Thou Art In The Midst Of Foes:
Watch And Pray!”
2 Principalities And Powers,
Mustering Their Unseen Array,
Wait For Thy Unguarded Hours:
“Watch And Pray.”
3 Gird Thy Heavenly Armour On;
Wear It Every Night And Day
Ambush’d Lies The Evil One:
“Watch And Pray.”
4 Hear The Victors Who O’ercame;
Still They Mark Each Warrior’s Way;
All With One Sweet Voice Exclaim,
“Watch And Pray!”
5 Hear, Above AlI, Hear Thy Lord,
Him Thou Lovest To Obey;
Hide Within Thy Heart His Word:
“Watch And Pray.”
6 Watch, As If On That Alone
Hung The Issue Of The Day;
Pray, That Help May Be Sent Down:
Watch And Pray.
Bible In One Year: 2 Samuel 18:1-19:10, John 20:1-31