THE STORY OF JESUS: Proverbs 11
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life….” (Proverbs 11:30)
This chapter often refers to the righteous, or the upright.
This does not mean the perfectly sinless person, the full meaning of ‘righteous’.
It refers to those who ‘seek good’ (v.27), who strive to do what is good and right.
Their intentions are good, even if not all their actions are.
This is as good as we can get on this side of Genesis 3.
We have lost access to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24).
But with Jesus’s forgiveness and help, we are able to overcome evil with good.
What this pre-Jesus proverb hinted at is now even more possible for us.
The Spirit of Jesus helps us produce good fruit: love, joy peace, etc (Galatians 5:22-23).
By our Jesus-inspired, Spirit-enabled expression of goodness, we bring life to others.
We can be a tree of life to someone else, so that they can taste God’s goodness.
If I make the effort, I will be productive in being more and more ‘righteous’.
If I seek this (genuinely desire and pursue it), the Spirit will work through me!
How will I bring goodness to someone else today; how can I bless someone else?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, may my words and actions today allow someone else to taste Your goodness. I want to help You make this world ‘very good’ again!