Proverbs 11:30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.
As far as we can tell from Genesis 2, the Tree of Life was the tree in the center of the Garden of Eden that would give Adam and Eve eternal life if they had eaten from it. You might also remember that God blocked Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life after they sinned.
Solomon is letting us know that there is still a Tree of Life. Not a literal tree obviously, but a tree of wisdom growing in your heart. We are meant to be life givers. Soul capturers. When we are wise and do what is righteous in God’s sight, it will be life giving for others.
In Christ, we are the anti-Adam. When Adam and Eve foolishly sinned, eating from the Tree of Knowledge, they brought death into the world. Every soul would now be born captured in the net of sin and death. But in Christ we are not doomed to suffer the consequence of sin. We can still live. We can still eat from the Tree of Life by eating the fruit of Christ’s own righteousness. Christ’s own life. Just as fruit enters into us and changes us from the inside-out, when we partake of Christ’s life by faith, his indwelling life and love transform us from the inside-out as well.
Have you partaken of Jesus’ righteousness? Have you eaten from the Tree of Life? If you have then you too are a Tree of Life bearing fruit for God. The fruit of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ that can feed the spiritually starving.
What should we do with this life giving power that now lives in us? Capture souls. The wise one will win people over to Christ with their genuine love and gentle apologetic. This is our Great Commission, our duty and our delight, to share life with a dying world. To catch men with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Luke 5:10. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
What good is it to have the most powerful force in the universe growing inside of you if you are not going to share it with the world? Why have the fruit of righteousness in us if only to withhold it from a starving world?
A world starving for real life while you have Christ’s life in abundance.
A world starving for grace while your life overflows with the grace of God.
A world starving for love while you have a fest of love spread out for you each new day.
A world starving for righteousness while you have a Tree of Life producing a bumper crop of the fruit of righteousness in you.
You: Do you see yourself as a tree of life? A soul catcher? What gets in the way of seeing yourself this way?
You in Christ: How does knowing that you have eternal life that was shared with you by someone, compel you to share the good news of eternal life with others?
Christ in you: Is there someone in your life that is open to the good news of Jesus? How might you share the fruit of life with them?
Pray: Jesus, you are my Tree of Life. Help me by your grace to share your life with others as you allow. Amen.
To Live is Christ 