Proverbs 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.
If you keep your soul, then you shall be kept from thorns and snares. “Keeping the soul” is the condition for the promise of a life free from the evil that would harm us eternally. “Keeping the soul” is the same as abiding in the NT faith of Christ. It is the opposite of the “froward,” the crooked, which is the unbeliever. There only two kinds of people, believers and unbelievers.
”Thorns and snares” are in the world and in our way as a result of the Fall. They will always be around us as long the earth remains, as part of the curse. Thorns remain as long as sin remains. They are “in the way” of the unbeliever.
They are in the way of the believer, too, but they do not bring him into unbelief in God and loss of life with God. The curse of Sin was placed on Jesus’ head in the “crown of thorns.” Jesus took our sin, the pain of sin, the curse of sin, and the death of sin upon Himself. By doing so Jesus kept our soul, and thus the promise comes true for those who believe in Him: thorns and snares are kept far from him.
Oh yes, the thorns remain, like the snakes in the wilderness remain, but the effects of sin are put on the cross. And the thorns and snares will be far from us. Because of Christ we can pray with confidence: Deliver us from evil! Deliver us from the eternal evil of bad things, like thorns and snares. Thorns are bothersome and nettlesome, but their sting does not last forever for those who keep the soul.