Proverbs 3:18. [Wisdom] is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.
Do you recall the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis? God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the center of the Garden of Eden with two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. If asked which of these two trees would make a person wise it would make sense to answer the Tree of Knowledge. But wisdom is in the Tree of Life, not the Tree of Knowing Good and Evil. Eating the fruit of life from a gracious God as an act of faith is wisdom, not eating the fruit of knowing what God knows.
God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge they would die. Why? Because to choose to know good and evil on their own, apart from a relationship of trust in God was a rejection of God and his grace. And to reject God is to reject life itself. But the Tree of Life offered a life of trusting God. Fearing God. Constantly receiving God’s love in the form of a fruit meant to be taken, eaten, and received into our own life.
But what was this life that God was offering to Adam and Eve? Here’s where knowing a little New Testament Greek can help us. In the New Testament there are three different words for life. Bios – physical life (the body). Psyche – psychological life (the soul). And zoe – spiritual or divine life (the spirit). God’s life is always zoe. Eternal life is zoe. The life offered by God, through wisdom, is much more than physical life or even psychological life. It is spiritual life realized in fellowship with God. It is favor with the Lord. It is a life lived within the love of God. Not merely existing but flourishing that comes when living in a right relationship with God, drawing upon his very own life.
In the New Testament Jesus claims to be this zoe life. I am the way, the truth, and the zoe, he said. I have come that you may have zoe and have it abundantly. Paul tells us that the free gift of God is eternal zoe through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
Adam and Eve already had bios life and psyche life from simply being created by God. What they didn’t have and needed was zoe life from the Tree. In the same way every person has bios and psyche life at birth. What we need is zoe life from our Tree of Life, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Christian, do you know what you have in Christ? You have the life of God in you. The zoe life that allows you to know God, love God, and live like God. The Spirit in us is a fountain of life watering the Tree of Life (Christ) that is growing in our hearts. Growing slowly? Yes. From a seed? Yes. But growing. Each day that you live in your bios and your psyche you are able to connect more and more with the zoe of God through Christ in you, the source of your spiritual life.
But we must keep eating from Christ the Tree of Life. We must let his grace nourish us all day long. We must rest in the shade of his mercy, and climb the branches of his love. The good news is that because this Tree of Life is planted in our very being we can take it/him with us wherever we go. Always full. Always satisfied. Always blessed.
You: Are you regularly eating from the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life? Can you tell the difference?
You in Christ: In Christ, the Tree of Life has been planted into your life. How does this help you to have confidence to receive Christ’s life each day?
Christ in you: Where do you need to trust in the wisdom of Christ’s indwelling love rather than in your own wisdom?
Pray: Jesus, you are my Tree of Life. Help me to hold fast to you each day. Amen.
To Live is Christ 