There are, in this text, many different pictures and beautiful expressions found. This shows, not only is wisdom and understanding valuable, but they are priceless. 

First, notice she is described as a tree of life. We were having a dry spell here for a little while. The grass was brown. Trees were starting to look a little wilted. Our garden was looking a little rough. Then it rained...for four days! We were so grateful for the rain but something else happened. 

Everything started to come alive! The grass turned green, the garden was starting to grow, and the trees looked fuller and richer. This richness and green is the life of the tree itself. There is, throughout Scripture, a picture of trees with life in them. Psalm 1:1-3 is a great example of this for it tells of the tree that is planted, rooted, and growing near the living waters. This is not just any tree though.

The tree, instead of an apple tree, pear tree, oak tree, etc., is a life tree! This phrase, “tree of life” is found five times throughout Scripture and it is very telling. Look at the connection wisdom and understanding have to this phrase!

First, the tree of life is found in Genesis 2:9. This is the tree Adam and Eve were given to enjoy in the Garden of Eden. It is not known specifically what this tree looked like or what fruit it bore, but it was a tree that was meant to bring all the necessity of life to those who ate of it. Wisdom and understanding, when those who take hold of her, become a tree of life that will give life.

Second, the tree of life is said to do just what it sounds, give eternal life: Genesis 3:22. Imagine a tree whose fruit will give eternal life. Ponce De Leon was looking for the wrong thing! He was looking for the fountain of youth. He should have laid hold on the tree of life! This tree though is found in wisdom and understanding. Where are these found? As we said many times and we will say throughout Proverbs, many more times, it is only found from God!

But this phrase, Tree of Life, is not found just here in Proverbs 3:18. It is also found in Proverbs 11:30. We have the fruit of the righteous that is a tree of life. What is righteous? There are many who believe they are right. This is based on their own opinion of themselves. Of course they will be right! If we are doing something wrong, and we want to, will we stop ourselves and say, “You are wrong. Now, do right?” No! Instead we continue. Therefore, to know what is right or not there must be an objective measure by which we test ourselves. This measure only comes from God not politics, not culture, no society, not our friends, not our heart, not our emotion, not our opinions. In truth, you and I, dear reader, have no say in what is right or wrong. We know right and wrong from God’s Word for only God can tell us what is and is not right. When someone says they are following their heart, that should send warning signs and our mind should run to Jeremiah 17:9. It is not good to follow our heart, follow our truth, follow what we think. Each one of these have been tainted by sin and will lead only one place. To Satan.

The best thing to do is to get the objective truth. God is the one who can tell us what is right or not. Then, using HIS STANDARDS, we apply our lives to the standard, not the standard to our lives, and measure. If we do not match up and are not straight, WE FIX OURSELVES! We do not twist, manipulate, explain away, change, alter, or ignore the truth. That is what it means to be righteous. It is living right based on God’s standard.

Now we come to Proverbs 13:12. Hope that is being put off for the time makes us sick. Imagine any of us reading hoping and wanting something very, very badly. We look for it. We long for it. We desire it. We work and save for it. The whole time we are doing this, we are hoping and longing for the day when we receive the fruit of our labors. What happens when it comes? The answer is we are so excited! It seems as though there is life inside of us and we do not know how to contain our enthusiasm! What was dry and cracked is now full of life. This is how this tree of life is described.

Perhaps, of all of these passages, the best one is this last one. There will come a day (could we say hope is being differed right now?) when God makes a new Heaven and a new earth. The Heavenly Jerusalem will come down to earth and will be established. In this city will be a river and the river will have trees on either side. These trees are known as the tree of life and there will be twelve fruits. The leaves will bring healing to the nations. These trees will forever exist and will be for the saints who will dwell with the Lord forever – Revelation 22:2!

Now, we have a picture, a grand picture at that, of this phrase, “The Tree of Life”, has our view of wisdom and understanding and how vital they are, changed? We must have these two things. They are life. But since wisdom and understanding only comes from God, we cannot but think of that blessed statements of our Lord found in John 10:10, 28. Since this tree is life, and we can only get this through God. And the only way we can get to God is through Jesus (John 14:6), to really get this type of tree of life is to go to the ONLY ONE who can give life. Jesus Christ.

We must move on to the rest of this verse. There are many who have come to that last part and say,

I am not going to go to Jesus. I want to live my life, my way. Religion is for those who cannot handle reality. The Bible is man made and only tells me what I cannot do. I am the master of my own future.

They are walking away from the truth and will never have all that wisdom and understanding can give. But for those who get hold of wisdom and understanding, this verse in Proverbs 3:18 tells us that those who retain her are...grumpy! No. Read the verse in Proverbs 3:18. They are Happy!

The word for happy here is very large so we will not do an in depth. This word, in this text means to walk or to be blessed. There is a blessing to having true wisdom and understanding! Those who are in this state are not just wandering around on their own but this idea of walk actually has the idea of ebing advanced or to be led. It is not longer just us walking, but wisdom and understanding, which comes from God, through Jesus, now tells us we are going to be led, not left wandering without help.

This reminds me of some powerful truths found in Scripture.

1. God will give us directions – Isaiah 30:21

2. God will show the path we must take and notice...it is full of life. This life will bring satisfaction (We should be reminded of Jeremiah 17:7-8) – Isaiah 58:11

3. We will have the Holy Spirit to lead us – John 14:26; 16:13

We could go on and on with many more passages like this (Proverbs 16:9; 20:18; Psalm 32:8; 119:105, etc.) But we will stop there. It is not bad following God and coming to God. What is sad is the reality of so many who are hurting, pained, lost, and wrecked. They are like a ship dashed upon the rocks. But the one place they can find hope, peace and love is the one place they feel is what will destroy their lives! So these people have wrecked lives and they feel that coming to Jesus and surrendering their life will wreck them? The logic does not make sense.

When we do surrender, repent, confess and receive the gift of Jesus’ death on the cross, we will find there is, not a list of do’s and do not’s (although there is a standard by which we MUST live) we will find this frees us to truly live! Not the life of destitution, poverty, and destruction that is in the world around us, but a life that is free from the trappings and emptiness of sin!

If you have not noticed, the world around us is wrecked. They do not even know what bathroom to go into! They are hurt, longing for something to make them feel real. This is why men and women mutilate their bodies to become the other. This is why they seek relief in drugs, sex, power, money, alcohol. They are looking in the wrong place. To truly be alive, necessitates being reunited to the One who can give life, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Therefore, those who has wisdom and understanding are happy. They are not under the weight of sin, or the pressure of the world. Instead we, who have the truth, are free. Yes, we will be pressured by the world, attacked by Satan, reviled by the world, and hated by all. But we have life and we are blessed.

That takes us back to Proverbs 3:13. Happy, or blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. God bless dear reader.