Description
Becoming a Tree of Life and Capturing Souls Wisely
This episode meditates on Proverbs 11:30, reflecting on how “the fru… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Today’s meditation verse is really deep, so let’s see if we can do justice to it as we meditate on it. Proverbs chapter 11, verse 30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.
Now, this sounds like something that the writer of the proverbs is commending to us. The fruit of the righteous being a tree of life. A tree of life is something out of which living things grow. If we are operating in a righteous manner, that is if we are seeking to follow Jesus and live the way that he lived, and we are living righteously, out of righteousness grows life.
Life comes through the way that we operate by faith. We are presenting life to others. In the places where we sow, in the things that we do, in the words that we say, life is given out.
The scripture says this is a natural thing that happens when we are walking in righteousness. Do we want to be trees of life? I mean, that sounds like a great thing to see operating in our lives, isn’t it?
The kind of fruit that we see though is the fruit that God ordains – not necessarily the fruit that we say that we want to see. Because our own desires, our hearts are not always fully in line with the desires and wishes of God our Father.
And the proverb goes on to say that whoever captures souls is wise. Now, this comes way before Jesus talked about being fishers of men, capturing souls in that way. So what could it be that is meant in this verse? How would this play out?
Capturing souls to me sounds like we are bringing people into our orbit where we can give them that righteous life. We are helping others in their journeys so that they too can become trees of life and go on to capture souls around them also. This is described as being wise, which in the Proverbs means not just wise in the sense of good application of knowledge, but morally good.
This is an endeavor to which we can direct our entire lives that we are, whatever we do, however we find ourselves, however our life has panned out, that we are ensuring we are giving out of what God has given us.
I think it’s as simple as asking God, “God will you cause that fruit, that fruit of righteousness to grow out of me, to be offering life to all around me. Your life, the life of Christ. And God, will you help me in this work that you have ordained for us: to be capturing souls, capturing souls for the kingdom of God. Capturing not into bondage and slavery, but capturing into freedom. The freedom that comes from living the way God designed us to live.
Ah, my friends, would you be wise? I think this is something definitely worth committing our minds, our hearts, our strength to.
Lord God, I thank you that you have given us the possibility of having righteous fruit. Thank you that you are prepared to use us in your work of capturing souls. This is the greatest mission in which we could be involved, alongside worshipping and serving and honouring our Creator.
Please help us then as we work for you in faith, loving our God. Amen.
