The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.
Proverbs 11:30 NLT
As I walk through my life, I leave things behind me. Some of it is quite literally rubbish which I discard (carefully, in the bin!) and which it would be pointless to carry with me, but a lot of it is intangible and invisible. I don’t even know I’m leaving some of it. Sometimes it’s intentional, sometimes it’s not.
I’m talking about things that I leave in other people – thoughts and emotions. Things that can be left in a flash, maybe just by a single word or a look or a thought. Small things in themselves which get bigger. Seeds.
Every seed which germinates grows into something. They might live for years or be dead in days, but they all grow and change the environment around them.
I need to be more careful about the seeds I leave behind, and the writer of this proverb clearly states that a good deed will turn into a tree of life. My seeds might just create trees of temporal life, or perhaps eternal life, and I need to ensure that they do. They can all affect the lives of the people around me and I should aim for an eternal effect all the time.