Josh Hamilton, a major league baseball player, was banned from baseball for a year because of drug problems. He never had any before he became a professional player. In fact, he was probably the kid you’d expect least to get into drugs. However, he started to hang around the wrong crowd. As he noted in Sports Illustrated once, it’s always when you hang around the wrong people that bad things happen.
The best way to solve this is to avoid such people altogether. Job’s friends were too quick to blame him, they didn’t edify him. But, they also never tried to hurt him.
Lots of times, such people are only your friends because they can use you. Look at the prodigal son. He took his share of the inheritance, went off and partied like crazy, then when he lost his money, he had no more friends. His friends deserted him because they couldn’t use him anymore.
There are times, of course, when such people come to the Lord. If they come to church or some other activity, that’s great. But, don’t go into their places. That’s the lesson Josh Hamilton learned. There is no reason for anyone to be in a bar or club in the wee hours of the morning, for instance. You should keep to that, and you should expect those you shepherd to also do that. Indeed, King David found there was trouble even going up on his rooftop. If you can’t sleep, there is plenty else to do, and the Lord may be causing you to be awake so you can pray.
