The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. –Proverbs 13:14
Ponce de Leon sought for the mythical Fountain of Youth, hoping for reward and revived vitality; instead, he died from a wound to the hip, courtesy of a Floridian native. If he wanted to find the true fountain of life, all he needed to do was to turn to Proverbs 13:14 which proclaims, “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life.” As with 21st century man, his lack of biblical understanding cost him dearly.
We have the written words of the Invincible God that not only gives us insight into who He is and how He relates to us from eternity past, they also show us how to live responsible, productive, and joyful lives every day that we live. This, however, is not the only way we can drink from the waters of living wisdom.
Only a few verses later, Solomon says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20) We often hear more about the latter part of this verse—Paul also warns us about bad company—but we fail to emphasize the former. While we want to receive the warning, we even more want to embrace the positive instruction from this verse: find a wise person to interact with! As one person has shared, “Show me your three closest friends, and I will show you who you are by the average of the three.” The glory of this verse is that wise men are almost always interested in investing in a young man or young woman who shows a legitimate desire to learn.
In this same chapter we are told that young people can obtain wisdom simply by listening to their father’s instructions: A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke–Proverbs 13:1. It makes such sense that a father would be a wonderful instructor insofar as he has 1) years of experience and 2) and a genuine desire for his children to do well. Yet, numerous sons and daughters throw off the yoke of their fathers’ teachings and instead submit themselves to their peers who have a lot in common with the fools found throughout the book of Proverbs.
Although it isn’t in Proverbs 13, Job 12:12 reminds us that, “Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding in length of days.” Sure, this needs some caveats as some sixty-year-olds want to bebop around like their sixteen. That is obviously not what we are talking about here. Instead, we are talking about the gray heads that continually seek the person of Jesus Christ and are wanting to walk in a sanctified and holy lifestyle. Additionally, while the couple who have been married six months might have some good things to say about marriage, it is those who have stood the test of three or four decades to whom we should pay the most attention. The attendance of the marriage conferences I have been to has an average marital life of over fifteen years. Even though these folks have years of experience, they are striving for as much wisdom as possible. The average years when most couples divorce? Between years seven and eight. I’ve always wondered why that didn’t reach out for more wisdom.
Young people must be told that their fellow 18-year-old with 2 million hits, while being cute and funny, rarely speaks forth deep wisdom that is needed for this journey called, “life.” Wisdom usually rides in tandem with humility as they attend the U of HK together. What is the U of HK? The University of Hard Knocks!
Ponce de Leon’s vain search for the Fountain of Youth led him into an early grave. Fortunately, we need only to drink from Proverbs 13 to find live-giving wisdom that will help us navigate this life and lead us triumphantly into the next.
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