Wisdom As Tree Of Life (Thoughts On Proverbs 3:13, 18)

By Joel Settecase

Godly wisdom is the key to real life.

"Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy." —Proverbs 3:13, 18, CSB

Our ancestors Adam and Eve rejected God's wisdom, choosing instead to take the shortcut and eat from the tree that promised knowledge of good and evil—resulting in death, and cutting them off from the Tree of Life—and we follow their example when we turn to manmade philosophies and ideologies ("what is falsely called 'knowledge,'" as Paul calls it in 1 Tm 6:20, ESV).

Contrast this approach to that of Christ, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Cl 2:3), and who rejected all shortcuts, choosing the straight and narrow path of obedience, growing "in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man" (Lk 2:52), and ultimately following that path even through death, to resurrection and glory (He 12:2).

Having been redeemed by Christ's death and resurrection, and in the light of his wisdom, we can now see earthly ideologies for what they are, i.e. cardboard shams that don't stand up to scrutiny (let alone life's toughest challenges); we are free now to gather all we can from the storehouses of God's wisdom, appropriately compared (in the above verses) to the Tree of Life, which Adam and Eve were cut off from, and to which we have regained access (Rv 22:2), in Christ.