Walking with the Wise #150: Turning to Life

“The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death.”
—Proverbs 13:14

Living a God-pleasing life means turning from wickedness and embracing righteousness. Those who follow the teaching of the wise (i.e., those who are following the Lord) will find an abundant and blessed life. But those who don’t will find despair and death. God doesn’t embrace the death of anyone; as He said, 

“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”—Ezekiel 18:23. 

And again, 

“For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live”—Ezekiel 18:32.

God doesn’t want us to continually live a disobedient life that ends in death. He wants us to turn from our ways and live according to His Word, abandoning all self-sufficiency, or self-righteousness we may have, embracing Him as the source of our satisfaction and worth. We then order our lives according to His Word that keeps us on the path of life, keeping us from the snare of death.

Reading His Word, meditating upon it, and letting it become part of who we are, is what God wants from us. It is through reading, meditating, knowing, and applying God’s Word that we are changed, because God has ordained His Word to be the means by which He reveals Himself to us. Reading the Word enables us to encounter the author of life, and He is the only author who is present each time His Word is read.

Take the time to read God’s Word. Let the truth of it wash over you. Allow God to speak to you, direct you, and communicate Himself to you. He doesn’t want to hurt or harm you, nor does He want to belittle or beat you. He wants to bless you with the greatest gift He can give—Himself.

May our hearts and Bibles be open, may our souls be ready to receive, and may our wills be inclined to do that which is most delightful—to know and worship Him who is, who was, and who is to come (cf. Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8)—Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Amen.