I retired over six and a half years ago after 32 years of government service. Before I was hired, I had to have a thorough background check as part of the hiring process. They wanted to see who I associated with during every part of my life. That is important for a number of reasons that I don’t have to get into here because we’re all familiar with background checks.
If you want to know someone and determine what type of character they have, just take a look at who they hang out with. The old saying, “birds of a feather flock together” is pretty accurate. Most of my friends were great people who (generally) followed the rules and stayed out of (big) trouble. In a huge and realistic sense, I stayed with a wise crowd. Maybe they weren’t all smart, but they were (and are) wise.
Those are the people you want to spend time with if you want to grow in wisdom. They are the ones you want to emulate, not the wicked and troublemakers. Surround yourself with friends who are wise and you will become wise!
Proverbs 13:20 (NLT) - “If you want to grow in wisdom, spend time with the wise. Walk with the wicked and you’ll eventually become just like them.”