Proverbs 13.13-14
“Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.”
It’s the most important decision that a person makes in life, because it is the one decision that affects and directs all other decisions. By what standards or principles will I live my life? Will I accept the truth of God’s word, or will I follow some other philosophy?
Everyone has a worldview. Everyone adopts some kind of philosophy about life. Everyone has assumptions about the way they think the world works. Everyone has a belief system that gives them reference points for how they live their life.
One of the key objectives in the book of Proverbs is to keep the worldview decision — and the consequences of it — ever present in our minds. Throughout Proverbs, there is a constant contrast between those who choose wisely versus those who choose foolishly; between those who “revere the commandment” and embrace the truth versus those who “despise the word” and reject the truth; between those who stay on the path of God’s standards versus those who drift off the path.
If you remember from the opening chapters of Proverbs, the book is written like a message from a father to his son; from parents to their children. Every person can relate to this, because parents throughout history have always encouraged and admonished their children to “‘make wise decisions.” Parents do this because they understand the positive benefits of good decisions, as well as the potentially devastating consequences of bad decisions.
This is precisely Solomon’s message here in Proverbs. He speaks to us as a father to his children. Despising God’s standards leads to bad decisions, he says, which then lead to destruction and “the snares of death.” Reverence for God’s word leads to wise decisions that are guided by God’s standards, and the result is “a fountain of life.”
This was the same message of Jesus in his final statement in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
The most important decision you will make is what philosophy to follow and what foundation to build your life on. All the other decisions you make in life will flow from that one decision.
Choose wisely.
