I. There are but two ways; you must choose the one or the other. You must follow Ahab, or you must go with Obadiah. No man can serve two masters. Even the old Latins had a proverb, " Duos qui sequitur lepores, neutrum capit." Don't imagine for a moment that you are standing between right and wrong, like the embarrassed ass in Aesop's fable between two equal bundles of hay, as though the bias towards each side were equal. We all incline to the evil rather than the good. If a strong moral force does not govern the will, it is not difficult to tell which side will be chosen.
II. Choose for your associates those with whom you would wish to company all through life. Try and look below the surface, and read the character; and do not give your friendship to any one whom, in your deepest soul, you do not respect. It was an excellent advice which a father gave his son, "Make companions of few; be intimate with one; deal justly with all; speak evil of none."
III. Should your intimate associate prove to be of evil principles, part company with him at once. Pull up the instant you find you are off the road, and take the shortest way back you can find. If the call of duty places you for a time, as it did Obadiah, in bad company, God is able to protect you from the moral taint, as He kept Daniel pure in the midst of Babylon; but not a moment longer than is needful should you tarry in the place of danger, for St. Paul truly says, "Be not deceived; evil company doth corrupt good manners."
J. Thain Davidson, ForewarnedForearmed,p. 205.
Reference: 1 Kings 18:7-22. J. R. Macduff, The Prophet of Firep. 97.