Tony was a “good boy,” or at least that’s what most of us would call him. He didn’t fight, smoke, swear or damage other people’s property. But there was a gang of “bad boys” in his neighborhood who did all of those things. Tony thought he was better than they were, and he led his group of friends in making fun of the bad boys. He wasn’t paying attention to Proverbs 4:14-1514Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:14‑15). Those verses tell us, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” These two verses plainly say not to even go near evil people, but to avoid them completely! Tony’s story will show us why this is so important!
Tony was being raised in a Christian home where these verses from the Bible were taught. In fact, Tony had accepted the Lord Jesus as his very own Saviour when he was 5, and now at 13 he should have known better than to make fun of the bad boys.
One day, Tony and his group of good boys got so interested in trying to teach the bad boys not to be bad that a fight started. Now, does it work to teach someone not to be bad by being just as bad as they are? No, of course not! The bad boys tore up a fence to use in the fight, and soon someone called the police.
The police came, but Tony had already run away. He knew that wasn’t the right place to be, but it was too late for Tony. Someone had recognized him, and they told the police that he had been in the fight. And that person also said that he had torn apart the fence, which was not true.
A few days later, Tony was outside when a police officer showed up at his house. The officer asked if Tony Smith was there. Wishing he could run away, he had to admit, “Yeah, I’m Tony.” The officer wanted to hear Tony’s side of the story about the fight. Sadly, Tony had to admit he had been involved. In disobeying the Word of God, he had gone near evil and had done wrong. Now he was in trouble.
After hearing Tony’s side of the story, the office said, “Yeah, we know about those guys, but fighting’s illegal. You need to stay away from them. We believe your story, but you still did wrong in fighting.”
Tony had thought he was good, but actually he was trying to hurt the gang by calling them names and then fighting with them. In a painful way, he found out that he was also bad! Actually, he had been the cause of the fence being pulled down, because he had led his friends in making the gang of other boys mad.
Boys and girls, we are never smarter than what God tells us in the Bible. It warns us not to even go near evil people. We should avoid them and get out of there! Disobeying this warning leads to problems, as Tony found out that day.
The Lord Jesus always has the best, happiest and safest plans for those who belong to Him and want to obey Him. He wants to keep you happy, but He can only do that if you obey what He says in the Bible. Psalm 119:6363I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:63) says, “I am a companion of all them that fear [respect] thee, and of them that keep thy precepts [rules].” He is telling us what kinds of friends are good to have—friends who respect and follow His rules. Friends who obey what God tells us in the Bible are the safest and best kinds of friends to have.
Boys and girls, choose your friends wisely.
ML-10/05/2014