[293 words]
An ambitious farmer, unhappy about the yield of his crops, heard of a highly recommended new seed corn. He bought some and produced a crop that was so abundant his astonished neighbors asked him to sell them a portion of the new seed. But the farmer, afraid that he would lose a profitable competitive advantage, refused. The second year the new seed did not produce as good a crop, and when the third-year crop was still worse it dawned upon the farmer that his prize corn was being pollinated by the inferior grade of corn from his neighbors’ fields.
In a lot of ways, we aren’t all that different from the farmer. We look for ways to improve our condition. We look for guidance. We try out the newest ideas and advice. We set goals and resolutions. We read self-help books. However, no matter how much we implement improvements, there is something that will always work against us until we do something to fix it. The problem is our neighbors’ crops. Confused? Let me explain.
The farmer had an opportunity to surround his crops with a quality product. Unfortunately, instead of his good crop influencing the bad, the bad crop negatively influenced his good crop. And the exact thing can happen to us spiritually if we aren’t careful. 1 Corinthians 15:33 details out the problem, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’”
The people we surround ourselves can do incredible things to build us. They can also do horrendous damage to our good morals. Whether this is through evangelism or cutting out bad influences, we need good people around us. Don’t think bad friends are impacting you? This is exactly why we are warned to “not be deceived.”
Brett Petrillo
Denver, CO