A Companion of Fools

The human heart is lonely and we crowd together for warmth, but this natural tendency to associate has its problems. Great care should be exercised in the of friends. Yes, friends should be selected. We are to love all men, saints, and sinners, but our associates should be carefully chosen, and character should be the basis of that choice. All other considerations are secondary to this. That one should find his associates among the God-fearing is true for the following reasons:

1. Associations provides exposure to the weakness of one's friends as well as to their virtues. This subjects one to unnecessary negative pressures in addition to his own personal shortcomings.

2. Selection of friends of low repute has a damaging effect on one's reputation. One should guard well his influence, for it is this that speaks louder than words.

3. One should always consider ultimate consequences. "A companion of fools shall be destroyed." One rotten apple can infect a bushel, necessitating the destruction of all. Christ would have us choose Christlike companions, and thus enhance our own spiritual nature.

This principle also holds true for those contemplating marriage. To be unequally yoked is an invitation to tribulation. Let not an appeal to emotion becloud your reason. The Creator nows the creature. Take His word.

"We ought always to make choice of persons of such worth and honor for friends, that if ever they ceased to be so, they will never abuse our confidence, nor give us cause to fear them as enemies."

In the Garden of Eden the bond of friendship between the Creator and His creature was a thing of beauty until severed by sin. But even then God hastened to re-established the relationship, this time on an even firmer basis, not by natural creation, but by the sacrifice of Himself, the miracle of re-creation. And he who is a companion of Christ will never be a companion of fools.