By: Rex Stump
Wauseon, Ohio
Every day we make choices, and every choice leads to a consequence. How are you with making good choices? Recently, I sat with a young man who seemed to be having a bad day.
He said he got in trouble at school, but it wasn’t his fault. He went on to say, “My mom told me to stop hanging around the wrong people.” That’s great advice! I told him, “Your mom sounds like she has read the Bible.” (1 Corinthians 15:33, …bad company corrupts good character).
If I could give more advice to this young man, I’d say, “Don’t be a Rehoboam.” Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, the wisest man on earth.
When he took the throne, he started off pretty good, consulting his father’s elders and advisors when a challenging situation arose.
However, instead of taking the good advice from those who surrounded his father at one time, he rejected their counsel and asked his friends.
His friends may have meant well, but they lacked the experience of his father’s advisors and the wisdom of Solomon. He gave in to peer pressure and followed the advice of his friends. In the end, it didn’t go well for Rehoboam or for the nation of Israel.
Where are we finding good advice today? God’s Word is full of wisdom and direction, daily guiding us on the right paths of life.
Consider those closest to us, those who advise us and guide us, are they god-fearing, Bible-reading men and women of God?
Find someone or a group of people who are daily in God’s Word, seeking the knowledge and wisdom of God.
Find those who are faithfully trusting God in their life. These are the people who will help you when you are struggling to hear the voice of God.
In the end, as you listen to God and the advice of godly people, making wise choices will result in a peaceful heart. As you do this throughout life, you will become a wise person who can help others make wise choices.
Proverbs 12:15, “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Proverbs 13:20, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
“Stay strong, stay focused…stay faithful!”
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.