THINK TOGETHER.
Do you remember the Tree of Life in Genesis?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 11:30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
In Genesis the Tree of Life was the one in the center of the Garden of Eden that would give Adam and Eve eternal life if they had eaten from it. You might remember that God blocked Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life after they sinned. You can read about all this in Genesis 3.
Solomon is letting us know that there is still a Tree of Life. Not a literal tree growing in your backyard, but a tree growing in your heart – the tree of wisdom. When we are wise and do what is right, it is life giving for others. It is like eating fresh fruit from a tree, fruit that will keep you alive and healthy.
Adam and Eve didn’t do the right thing, did they? They disobeyed God and failed to trust him with their lives. As a result, they brought death into the world. But we are not doomed. We can still live. We can still eat from the Tree of Life by eating the fruit of righteousness.
Notice that we have to eat the fruit. When you eat something it goes inside of you and changes you from the inside out. And that is exactly what trusting in Jesus does. He becomes the righteousness we need in order to have eternal life. How? By living inside of us and changing us from the inside out.
Have you eaten Jesus’ righteousness? Or are you trying to be good on your own without trusting in Jesus’ love for you. Maybe your good only to stay out of trouble, or because you think you are better than everyone else. That’s not faith in Jesus is it? That’s not true righteousness either. That’s foolishness.
Because of Jesus we are made righteous by faith in him.
With Jesus we can trust him and do what is right.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Eat some fruit together. Talk about how what we eat changes us from the inside out. Faith in Jesus does the same thing. It makes us WANT to do right things.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you are my Tree of Life. I want to live forever with you, and I know I will by simply trusting that you died for me. Help me now to do what is right, not to look good or avoid trouble, but because I love you. Amen.
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