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Crime and Punisment--A Contemporary Version

His life is a real life commentary of Proverbs 1:10-19. This passage warns young men to keep away from bad company, especially people who plot violence against others. The first two verses rather summarize the whole:
"My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
If they say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason; (Proverbs 1:10-11, ESV)."
He was a handsome young man. His good looks and talents had taken him to act on TV serials though he didn't have a career as an actor. He had a good job as a sales manager in a reputed firm.
Everything turned around when his friends decided to take revenge on another person. His friend was offended by this man and they all decided to support their friend who was insulted. Though they probably did not plan it that way their opponent died in the attack.
Then there was arrest, imprisonment, trial, appeals.... The legal juggernaut started rolling but it kept rolling for long years. Finally, it stopped as many of the gang including this young man was acquitted by a higher court. But by the time, it had crushed under its wheels their reputation, their jobs and lot of money.
He had already lost his job during the trials. No one was willing to employ a person once implicated in a crime though he was later exonerated by courts.
He ended up as a cab-driver to provide for his family.
After many years, he invested all his meagre savings for an employment visa in a foreign country and air tickets with the hope of rebooting his life. On the third day of his arrival in that country, he died of a massive heart attack at age 32! He was leaving behind a young wife and two small helpless kids.
The ruin began with a wrong decision, taken under peer pressure, the pressure of bad company. Wisdom is to avoid such company and such counsel. The Bible is not all about life after death, but it also helps us to live our lives here on earth in a meaningful way.
You may like to read rest of the Book of Proverbs and the rest of the Bible as well. It is full of wisdom for us today.
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