August 3
The Road
to Destruction
"My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them...do not go along with them! ...for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood."
Proverbs 1:10-16 (NIrV)
“My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, ‘Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot’— my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood. How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it! These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.”
— Proverbs 1:10-16 (NIrV)
Justin sat in his room, the dark glow of the screen casting a faint, eerie light on his face. The music blared from the speakers, its deep bass shaking the walls of his room. He was lost in the rhythm, lost in the rebellion. It had all started innocently enough—a friend introducing him to music with a darker edge, movies that had him questioning everything he once believed. At first, it felt thrilling. A break from the monotony of life, a new way to feel alive. But now, it was deeper. The ideas in the music and the movies weren’t just entertainment—they were shaping his thoughts, pulling him in a direction he knew was wrong. And yet, he couldn’t stop. He had fallen in with the wrong crowd, friends who whispered promises of power and freedom, who laughed at the notion of following rules, of following God.
“Come on, man, just watch it. It’ll open your eyes. You’ll see the truth,” his friend, Trent, had said last week, handing him a movie that glamorized everything Justin knew was bad. “This is the real world, the one they don’t want you to see. It’s the way to freedom, trust me.”
Justin didn’t know when the shift happened, when his casual curiosity turned into something darker. It wasn’t just the music, the movies—it was the conversations with his friends, the talk of defying authority, of rejecting God. Little by little, his view of the world shifted, and soon, he found himself dabbling in things he never imagined he’d be part of. He started listening to music that praised the devil, watching films that glorified violence and destruction. Every day felt heavier, as if the darkness was creeping in and smothering any light he once had.
It wasn’t just the entertainment anymore; he felt an emptiness inside him, like something was missing. The more he followed the wrong crowd, the more he felt lost. The promises they made seemed so real, so tempting. But deep down, he knew—he could feel it—that they were leading him down a dangerous path, one that would only destroy him.
One night, after a long conversation with Trent about power and rejecting the “rules of society,” Justin found himself standing outside a run-down warehouse. He could hear the distant sounds of people shouting, music blasting from inside. His heart raced in his chest. This wasn’t the kind of place he was used to. It wasn’t the kind of place where good things happened. Yet, he found himself drawn to it. He was about to step inside when something stopped him.
A voice, soft and still, echoed in his mind. “Is this what you want, Justin? Is this the path you were meant to take?”
The question hung in the air like a lifeline, pulling him back from the edge. His hands trembled as he stood there in the cold night air. He thought about the verse he’d heard in church years ago, the one that warned about the dangers of following the wrong crowd, about how the path of evil led to destruction.
He stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity. And then, he turned away. He didn’t know exactly what made him walk away from that warehouse, from the friends who would have dragged him into deeper darkness. But he knew one thing—he wasn’t going to give in. Not today.
As he walked back to his car, Justin said a simple prayer under his breath. “God, I don’t want this. Help me. I want to change.”
Prayer:
Dear God,
I know I’ve been walking down a path that’s leading me further away from You.
I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve let the wrong influences take hold of my life.
But I don’t want to keep going down that road. I know that true freedom and peace come from You, not from the world or its empty promises.
Please help me to turn away from what’s wrong and seek Your guidance.
Give me the strength to follow Your path, even when it’s hard, and surround me with the right people who will lead me closer to You.
Thank You for not giving up on me.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
