A friend of mine shared a quote he came across that suggested that one is the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
I found this concerning as I spend the most time with my three daughters, my wife and after that a colleague whose a tutor who also happens to be a female. Meaning that I am the average of five women. One of whom is Jamaican. (Remember to pray for me.)
Seriously though, there is something about the company you keep. Especially close company. There is something about how they can influence and shape aspects of your personality.
An observation I’ve made in my short time on planet Earth is that if you spend enough time with people – genuinely with them, exchanging minds and hearts over highs and lows of life – something about others tends to rub off on you. From that relationship perspective, I had the privilege of sharing life with some men. Their interests in a lot of cases was very different to my own.
Over time I saw the passion with which they invested their lives in issues like community outreach, teaching, sharing good news with others, caring for the broken and downtrodden. I saw this from a point of view of someone that thought I could never get involved with that. I didn’t think it was for me or my kinda thing. Yet they involved me, they shared with me and soon I found myself sharing similar views with similar desires to these folks I shared life with.
I can say without any shame that my horizons were broadened, my heart was deepened and my commitment to see change in the world was strengthened and stretched because of the people I hung around with. I’m not a complete heartless vacuum (whatever my Jamaican wife may now say), but it’s actually a delight to know that by rubbing shoulders with others, the life of God in them can help to bring out more of the life of God in me.
This is why when considering the book of wisdom we are warned about the company we keep. It never fails to amaze me the stories people share about how they made some dodgy decisions at different stages in their life, because of the company they kept.
Lovely, gifted, engaging individuals who could do so much with their life but are held back because of poor decisions made due to poor walking companions. The thrill of the moment is far overwhelmed with the chains of the consequences. What makes it worse is that the ‘friends’ that helped you in the mess, will go missing when its time to emerge from the mess.
This is where the wisdom really kicks in
Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. (Proverbs 13:20)
The commitment to life long learning must be one that sees us pursue relationships that makes us wise. This is with the knowledge that the more we actively engaged and build relationships with wise people, the higher the likelihood that we will become wise.
After all, it’s really the good walking companions in life that help make life worth living.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 