EVIL PATHS

Proverbs 2:13-15
These people turn from right ways
to walk down dark and evil paths.
They rejoice in doing wrong, and they
enjoy evil as it turns things upside down.
What they do is crooked,
and their ways are wrong.



To paraphrase, Paul is saying, "Do not be misled, bad company corrupts good character." When the early American leader Aaron Burr was a student at Princeton, a spiritual revival swept through the college. Burr’s response to the revival was, "I follow only reason." But as the revival continued, Burr sought advice from the college president, Dr. John Whitherspoon. The college elder, however, discouraged Burr from getting too caught up in the emotion of the revival. Burr went back to his dormitory room, threw open the window, and shouted out across the campus, "Goodbye, God!" Burr had allowed the influence of his school president over the eternal influence of the Word of God. This decision would resound loudly later in Burr's life, even as he rose to the office of Vice President of the United States because he would be best remembered for killing Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel which would effectively end his political career. His life ended in a self-imposed exile. Isn't it amazing how bad company can have a lifelong effect? What do you do to make sure that you find yourself in good company?