A FOUNTAIN OF LIFE
“The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” Proverbs 13:14
It is a wise person who lives by a system of rules and guidelines and conducts himself according to those principles. We often hear criticism of rules and accusations of legalism because we seek to adhere to the principles of godliness and behavior found in the Word of God. Satan has deceived many into believing that laws are only confining and restrictive, and that freedom and pleasure are found in the absence of rules. But, the Bible teaches differently. The Scripture says, “The law of the wise is a fountain of life.” Of course, the perfect law, which we should all seek to learn and live by, is found in the Holy Scripture. The person who will be taught by the Word of God, and will determine to follow its precepts, will find that it is a “fountain of life.”
God is the Creator of life and the Source of true life. He promises us eternal life in Heaven, as well as an abundant life on earth. Our Lord is very interested in our experiencing the best that life can offer. He wants us to know that life is not found in rejecting and rebelling against His Word, but in receiving and believing His Word and walking in His precepts. The doctrines of His Word are able to make us “wise unto salvation” (II Timothy 3:15). We come to know Christ as our Savior and receive the gift of everlasting life by obeying the Gospel declared in His Word. There is a fountain of living water that quickens dead sinners and refreshes the souls of weary saints.
The devil does not want us to enjoy the reviving power of that spring. In contrast to our life-giving Savior, Satan wants to destroy us. He wants to trap us in a life of sin, and doom us to an eternity of torment. While God’s Word will lead us to a fountain of life, Satan’s goal is to lead people to perpetual death. Our text refers to Satan’s traps as “the snares of death.”
We are to avoid the snares of sin and the world. They entangle men in their web and bring them to destruction and death. How can we avoid these entrapments? We avoid them by walking in the “law of the wise.” It is a wise person who chooses to live by the principles of the Bible. If we will be governed by the commands and promises of truth found in the Scripture, we will recognize and escape “the snares of death” which seek to capture those who forsake the “law of the wise.”