The Tree of Life

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,”* (Proverbs 11:30) says Proverbs. How wonderful! How inspiring! The fruit borne by a Christian is a savor of life to many. If you live a true Christian life all the way through, God will use the fruit you bear to bring another soul to life. Your Christian life will not be lived in vain. That “beloved disciple” said, “On either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.”* (Revelation 22:2) Your life is compared to a river; and if you travel along down its course in the fullness of God’s grace, upon its banks will grow the tree of life, of which others may eat and live forever. Such thoughts are almost too wonderful for me; they overwhelm my soul.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,”* (John 6:35) and, “He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”* (John 6:58) This same Jesus has come into your life. You are dead, but Jesus lives. He lives in you. The fruit you bear will be eaten by others and be life to their souls. O my young reader, will you not be watchful and prayerful and let God live in you and bring forth fruit to His own glory? Cultivate the Christian graces, and see to it that there is never a withered leaf on your life’s tree, but be ever green and full of fruit, scattering a holy influence everywhere. May your life stand out upon the shores of time heavy laden with the fruits of the Spirit, of which others may eat long after you are gone to your reward. You can make it so. Will you do it? As for me, from the fullness of my soul I answer, “I will.”