BLUF: Knowing the Goal/Investing in Others

Context: In Proverbs 11:30, Solomon employs at least two metaphors. The first is that of a tree that bears fruit. The second is that of direction, an azimuth check, if you will. In the first line, he writes, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life . . .” That’s straightforward. The righteous/good man is characterized as a life-giving, life-bearing, pro-life person, so to speak. He’s characterized by “speaking life” and encouragement. And the second line unpacks this a bit more by adding, “and whoever captures souls is wise.” It’s not meant in the negative sense of entrapment. Rather, it is about leading people out of darkness into light, out of evil into goodness/righteousness. That’s the root meaning of the word educate. Etymologically, the word means “to lead out of/from darkness to light.”

Text: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise” (Pr 11:30).

Encouragement: All of us have the same amount of time in a day. How do we steward those 24 hours? Do we invest wisely in people and in ourselves? Or do we fritter away the time? Solomon here encourages the wise in godly stewardship of the time we’ve been given.