Wisdom's Corner
Don't Fall in the Well

In some parts of the world it is very dry. It does not rain very often. So when it does rain, people want to collect as much of it as they can. Today they may build towers with large containers to catch the water. Or they may have large buckets to catch the water. Or maybe they will have big barrels to catch the water.

In old testament times, one of the ways they collected the water was to dig large holes in the ground. These holes would be very deep but not very wide. These were called pits or wells.

The walls of the pit were straight and slick. If you fell in, you could not get out. If the well was full of water, you could drown before being rescued.

Sometimes the well would not catch much water. Instead, it would get filled with awful waste or thick mud. If you fell into this well, you would sink into the mud and waste and be covered in it. You would suffocate and die.

This is exactly what God says happens to those who live in sin. They think they are digging themselves a nice well to catch drinking water. They do not realize that they will die in their own well. If they do not repent and live like God wants them to, they will fall into the well they have dug and will suffocate and die. Psalm 7:15-16, "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate".

Of course, this is a spiritual well. But the spiritual well could lead to a physical death as well as a spiritual death. If they drink alcohol, they may try to drive a car and die in an accident.

God wants us to dig a good well. He wants us to have clean drinking water in our well. And he does not want us to fall into a mud filled well.

Until next time, keep reading and studying your Bible. Learn what God wants you to do.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1998

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)