¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men. ¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on. ¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; and they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. ¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

Do’s and Don’ts in popular evangelical culture have been synonymous with legalistic living, where we live by a set of detailed laws that constrict our behavior. As believers we are free to live under God’s grace and not by the Law, which the law of love—the new commandment Jesus gave us—has superseded. But living under grace does not negate living by wisdom, the practical outworking of life. The “do” side of wisdom is to live in wise ways; the “don’t” side is to avoid anything that encourages us to live like wicked people.

Even in the NT, we find many instructions and commands related to how we should behave. These are not intended to be a Christianized form of the Law in the sense that we do them to gain some sort of merit or grace from God. No, we have already received grace upon grace and will spend the rest of our lives growing in our knowledge of the grace of our Lord Jesus and our ability to live under it. So, when we look at the commands and instructions of the NT, we must not get confused and think obedience will gain for us rewards. That is not the point of the NT, and surely it is an inadequate motivation. The genuine Christian motivation for following the teachings of Christ and rest of the NT is out of an appreciative love. We love more as we realize more how much He loves us. We grow in grace as we understand more of His grace toward us and live in the light of that grace.

The sentiments of our passage today in Proverbs are reflected in part by the apostle Paul. When dealing with people who mingle among Christians yet live in blatant, unrepentant sin (1 Cor. 5: 11), he tersely writes:

I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. (1 Cor. 5:11)

Of course, so-called “church discipline” and excommunication are involved, with the ultimate goal to bring the individual to humble repentance (2 Cor. 2:6-8). But at least part of extreme instruction is to remove the influence of a flagrant sinner from the congregation.

We cannot avoid all contact and associations with ungodly people, and we shouldn’t, for how could we ever evangelize the world? Paul clarified this:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. (1 Cor. 5:9–10)

So the point is not to associate with ungodly people as we would with genuine Christians in fellowship. In other words, our inner circle of friendship and companionship should be with godly, Christ-following individuals.

Proverbs provide more granularity in the warning. Do not, do not, avoid, pass by, turn away, pass on! The staccato tone conveys the passion of the admonition. Why? Whereas wisdom will benefit you with peaceful, longer life, living like the wicked will leave you sleepless at night. Why is that? Because your evil friends do not have your best interest in mind. They could not care if you stumble away from God and from right living. They are all about eating and drinking evil, so to speak. That is their bread and butter for life.

When considering the contrast between living wisely and walking in “the path of the wicked,” why would anyone want to choose the latter when the former has so much to offer? The irony is that people leave wisdom in the ash heap because they think there is a better way to live life to the full. How foolish. At the end of life, the wicked will be exposed as those who have become enslaved to their passions and will never have peace.

Lord, help me discern my friendships and who is influencing me to live and act unwisely. I desire to live wisely in Your grace.