A Tree of Life

Proverbs 3:11-18 “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights. Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who  gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her.”

The tree of life has always piqued my interest, ever since I first heart about it as a child. I read that this tree of life in the Garden of Eden was a literal tree (Genesis 2:9). This amazing tree will be planted again along the streets and rivers of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22:2-3. The writer of Proverbs used this tree as a symbol of four attributes of a God-centered, spiritual life, which can bring blessing to all those touched by it. First of all, true wisdom is like a tree of life, imparting true happiness to all those partaking of it, then guarding it. Next, “the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise” - Proverbs 11:30.  A life exhibiting genuine righteousness, like one manifesting genuine wisdom, yields wholesome spiritual fruit to those in real contact with it.

The third figure is given in Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” There is nothing more rejuvenating to the spirit than for a dream suddenly to come true after long-continued hope has almost gone. An abiding, confident, always-continuing life of hope is a tree of life. Finally, “a wholesome tongue is a tree of life” - Proverbs 15:4. “Wholesome” - מַרְפֵּא (marpe' in Greek) here means “healing, cure, deliverance, placidity”. One can become a genuine tree of life by using his God-given privilege of speech not to complain or criticize; not in vulgarity or foolishness, but to help, encourage, instruct, and comfort.

1 Thessalonians 5:10-11 “He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”

This devotionals closing prayer was: May God help each of us to be a spiritual tree of life by attaining and demonstrating true wisdom, by living in genuine righteousness, by always maintaining an attitude of confident hope, and by speaking only words of edification that “minister grace unto the hearers” - Ephesians 4:29. May we be a tree of life to a desperate world in need of one.

In Christ, Brian