The Tree of Life

I have been writing a lot about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -- that is, the tree located in the soul of man (his intellect, his will, and his emotions).  But there is another tree in the Garden of Paradise-- the Tree of Life, from which man is not only free to eat at will, but which is necessary for him to sustain life itself.

When we are "rooted and grounded" in Christ, His Spirit flows through our souls (our hearts, our minds, our wills) to produce fruit 60, 70, or 100 fold.  Isaiah 11 gives us the characteristics of Christ's Spirit:  wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord.  We learned these at one time as the "Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  When we draw our view and understanding of the world from these roots, our lives produce the "Fruits of the Holy Spirit:" love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, and self-control.

Most of us are desperately searching for love, joy, and peace, without realizing that we are looking in the wrong direction.  These are produced by a tree whose roots are in good soil, the Spirit of God.  We cannot produce these fruits by eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Another way to name that tree is to call it the Tree of Sensuality -- that is, the fruit revealed to us by the senses.

When we reach down deep for Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding of the way mankind and the world systems operate, we begin to see the artificiality and superficiality of the world.  We begin to see from God's viewpoint: "My ways are not your ways, nor are My thoughts your thoughts...."  But there is a remedy for that situation --- God sends His word deep into the hearts and minds of those who seek Him, and His word produces fruit that will last:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return to it without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Is. 55: 10-11)

 

(Read the next few verses to see what "fruit" is produced by the Word of God in our lives.)

 

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us that He Himself is the Sower, and the seed is the Word of God.  He is sowing good seed into our hearts.  If our hearts are prepared to receive the seed, we will become rooted and grounded in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and our lives will produce fruit that will last forever.