It’s a sad story when we hear of a good and promising young man or woman, with so much potentially going for them, who somehow gets sucked into the wrong crowd and gets into some serious trouble. Maybe it is the teenaged son or daughter of a friend or acquaintance, or the child of someone we know through church or work. Or perhaps a youth in the neighborhood who we watched grow up from a young child. What went wrong? They were never the neighborhood troublemaker who, when we hear they landed in jail, we are not surprised. But now we hear that Johnny or Mary are in serious trouble, and we shake our heads, wondering what happened. So often the answer lies in who they started to associate with and listen to. How many times does it happen that a young man finds himself sitting in jail awaiting trial, and he says to himself, “If only I hadn’t listened to that person, if only I hadn’t gone along with their plan!” Now it is too late.
In our Scripture passage today, from among the opening words of the Book of Proverbs, we read a warning from a parent to a child that all should listen to. A large part of the Book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon, and a portion of that came from lessons he learned from his father, King David. As our passage begins, Solomon is speaking to his son, giving him warnings, that if listened to and heeded, will help him avoid much trouble in life. The number one lesson here, that he wishes his son to learn, is to not follow or go along with the wrong bunch of people (vs. 10). Scriptures here label them as “sinners”, those who do not know the Lord God, and do not follow His Word. When they try to lure us to follow their path, one that does not line up with what God has told us in His Word, we need to refuse.
Years ago there was an anti-drug campaign which used as one of their slogans the phrase “Just Say No!” Some people laughed at that as being too simplistic, but in reality the thought is true, and comes straight from the Bible, “do not consent” (vs. 10). When we give in, we choose to act against God’s will. The path of sin leads to devastation. However, following the Lord leads to wisdom and life.
Sin is enticing. The lure that our troublemakers in this passage are using to entice this young man with is getting rich with stolen goods. As we read this passage they plan on committing robbery, attacking some innocent person, and possibly even committing bodily harm or murder, all with the hope of getting money and riches. The troublemakers think this is a quick route to prosperity, and our misguided young man is tempted to become one of the crowd. The sin entices him to go along with the others, and not listen to the truth (vs. 11). Peer pressure can be very strong, and godly parents need to take the time to instruct their children, starting at an early age, to be able to withstand that with God’s wisdom.
We all need to realize that sin is deadly. We cannot be friendly with sin and remain unaffected. Sin must be rejected at the first temptation. We must refuse even the slightest association with it, avoiding even the beginnings of sin. If our young man here followed the advice of his father, and told these others “no!” right from the start, he would not end up in jail facing charges of robbery, bodily assault, and possibly murder. God warns us all here to “not walk in the way with them” (vs. 15).
Who is behind all of this? On the surface it is those sinners who have turned away from God, those thieves, murderers, gang members, drug dealers, etc. Behind all of them is Satan. He is the one who is ultimately trying to lure all of our young people to follow his path, and not God’s. He is the one tempting this young man, and all of us, to go after some evil, making us feel we cannot live without some possession or more money (vs. 19). We need God’s wisdom to recognize these greedy desires before they destroy us, as they have many a young person.
As we read this passage, seeking to learn its lessons, both for ourselves and our young people, we need to be wary of the subtle traps that Satan sets for us all. When someone sets a trap, they don’t set it while the intended victim is watching us (vs. 17). They want to do it in secret, which is exactly what these sinners, and Satan behind them all, is doing. We need to warn our young people, and ourselves as well, to not be a fool and walk right into it. “When sinners entice you, do not consent!”
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