"A Fountain of Life"

Probably one of the most famous fountains in the world is one that doesn’t actually exist. It is called the fountain of youth. A mystical, magical fountain filled with water that will restore the youth of anyone who drinks it. Proverbs talks about another kind of a fountain, not the fountain of youth but the fountain of life.
Proverbs 13:14 “the teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.”
The water flowing out of this fountain is the “teaching of the wise”. The content of this teaching turns the hearers away from the snares of death. Hence the name, Fountain of life.” There area great many teachers today whose words are not a fountain of life. They say we can’t be to negative, we have to be positive, we have to entertain. Consequently you could call their teaching the “fountain of laughter.” People leave their meetings with a chuckle in their head, but clueless in their heart as to the dangers in this world. Dangers that can ensnare and destroy them. They are entertained but empty. They are silly, senseless, sinners headed for destruction and have heard nothing that would cause them to consider their ways. The great need in our society is not the need to learn how to laugh. People need to learn how to live. The teaching of the wise will help people do that. Unfortunately not everyone wants to drink from that fountain. Fools despise teaching and instruction, fools want you to make them laugh and then leave them alone.
Life is filled with snares, things can can make a 25 year old look like they are 95. Sin has destroyed their bodies, their relationships, their minds. Sin is a hard taskmaster. People need to be warned about sin, but simply warning people about sin is not the fountain of life. The fountain of life is the wisdom, salvation and the transforming power of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He who drinks from this fountain will never thirst again. John 4. The teaching of the wise introduces people to Jesus who said “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Math 11:29-10 That is the fountain people need to drink from. It will not recover your youth, it will do something better, it will restore your relationship with God. At this fountain you will find forgiveness and new life. It will give you a new heart, a new mind, and one day a new body. It will put a new song in your mouth even praise to your God. You will have a new master, one who loves you and gave his life for you on the cross, his name is Jesus.
This verse presents us with two questions we need to ask ourselves.
Do I drink from this fountain, the fountain of wisdom, the fountain of those who are seeking to help me live a godly life? Word of God, other believers, etc.
In my teaching and conversations with others is what they hear a fountain of life, in that it turns people away from the snares of death?
May I be a wise teacher not only by the words I say but even more importantly by way I live. If I am warning people about the snares of death with my lips but leading them to those snares with my life, there will be no life in my teaching only death. We teach with our lips as well as our lives. May we prayerfully and powerfully be this kind of teacher, One whose teaching “is a fountain of life to turn away from the snares of death and leading people to Jesus, the way the truth and the life”