Walk with the Wise

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 118, Walk with the Wise.

Proverbs 13:20 — hear this carefully: "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."

Let that land. Because Solomon is not talking about a casual encounter, someone you bump into in passing. He is talking about trajectory. About a shared road. To walk — is to choose a direction. It is to choose a destination.

Think about this for a moment. No one stays neutral around other people. It is simply not possible. You spend weeks, months alongside someone — and you begin to use their words. Their habits work their way into yours. Their way of seeing the world starts to color your own. That is not weakness. That is how God made us. We are creatures of community, shaped by one another — constantly, whether we intend it or not.

That is why the verse does not say "choose your teachers." It says "walk with the wise." Because wisdom is caught more than it is taught. It is not what you absorb in a lecture. It is what seeps into you from living close to someone who walks with God. Like a plant beside a stream — it does not notice the moment it grows. It simply grows.

But this passage places a question before you — and it demands honesty. Who are the five people closest to you right now? The ones you call when you are confused. The ones you turn to when you need direction. Do they draw you toward God, or pull you away from Him? Do they call you upward, or hold you back? The answer — if you are honest with yourself — will show you where you are headed.

And before you think this sounds like pride, hear me clearly: choosing your influences well is not contempt for anyone. It is not turning your back on people you love. Jesus loved the lost — fully, without reservation. But He shaped His heart in prayer with the Father and in community with the twelve. He did not let every voice mold what He was. And neither can we.

There is someone in your life — maybe an older believer, maybe a friend you admire for their faith and their character — and you know in your bones that time with them does something good to your soul. When you walk away from them, you are somehow a little closer to God. You know that person's name. That name just came to you.

So here is today's call — and it is simple: before breakfast, hold that name. Then do the thing you have been putting off — send the message. Suggest a coffee. Schedule a call for sometime this week. Not as an obligation. As an investment in who you are becoming. Because walking with the wise is not an accident. It is a decision you make today.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.