I go for a walk almost every morning because I have a dog. He insists that we do this as soon as I get out of bed. I’ve discovered that you learn a lot about a dog by walking with them. Dogs like to smell things I can’t smell. They hear things I don’t hear. They leave their mark on various shrubs and tree trunks for a reason I don’t fully understand. They are alert to dangers I don’t notice and ignore other things that I think are important. And they aren’t embarrassed by pooping in public. Dogs are interesting creatures and are very different from me. Today’s verse talks about walking but not with dogs. It encourages me to walk with wise people. By doing that I somehow also become wise. Listening to wise people talk isn’t enough. I need to walk with them, see them in action regularly. By encountering a dog one time, I would not have learned all those interesting things about them. Only by regular and sustained observation have I come to understand my dog, including his particular skill in hunting lizards. He approaches a bush quietly. Then he pounds a foot onto the bush to see what scurries out. He watches and listens carefully. He pounces on the larger bushes with both front feet. It’s such a clever way to hunt lizards. If I spend time observing people who know more than me about anything, asking questions, experiencing different situations of life with them, I will certainly learn their methods and processes. I will become wiser. If I spend time instead with people who are foolish and make bad choices, I will probably be swept up with them in the consequences of those bad choices whether or not I deserve to be. It matters who I “walk” with. It is a choice I can make with a big impact on my life. For better or worse.
Dear God,
Thank you for the abundance of people wiser than me whom I can seek to walk with in my life. Thank you for the wise people whom I have learned from in the past, people who taught me about you. Point out to me the people you’d like me to learn from now. And if I have anything to offer anyone else, guide my words and actions to be those of wisdom instead of foolishness.
CamDevo 