Seed selection is an important aspect of cultivating. The
quality of the seed can have a huge effect on a farmer’s yield. Farmers must consider what tree yields the most fruit and what fruit are the most desirable. Likewise you must consider the type of character you want to develop and grow. What type of yield do you desire? What are the behaviors you would like to manifest? The desired outcome will dictate the type of concept you should plant in your heart, the portion of your mind governed by emotion. 
The metaphor for the character as a tree has been unapologetically drawn from the first three verses of Psalm 1 which read:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalms 1:1,2)
The person in Psalm 1 is a fruitful tree and is so because of where it is planted, that is in good soil beside a river.
As explained in Chapter 3, soil represents the metaphoric heart of literature — the emotional state of the mind. Emotions, according to Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, are meaning and actions constructed and prescribed by the brain to stimuli. We perceive them to be our reactions. It is the softening of those reactions in a process similar to how river water weathers rock to create soil that creates the ideal emotional state for learning and change. The process changes the meaning our brains assign to a circumstance and how we react to it. The continual flow of blessings and kindness coupled with other things that nurture our emotional states create positive states of mind that are receptive to growth and self-improvement.
Another way of looking at it is through the prism of Dr. Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs. In this theory an individual is motivated by five needs:
1. Physiological needs - biological requirements for human survival,
2. Safety needs - the need for security and safety,
3. Love and belongingness needs - the need is social and involves feelings of belongingness,
4. Esteem needs - classified into two categories:
(i) esteem for oneself and
(ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others,
5. Self-actualization needs - need to realize a person's potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
Maslow suggests that these needs must be fulfilled in the specific order listed above. If a need is not fulfilled a individual will lack the motivation to move to the next level of growth. Similarly the softening of the heart can be view as the fulfilling of these needs (ie. blessings) and the growth of a person’s personal tree of life is at the top of the hierarchy — self-actualization or self-fulfillment.
When our minds are in the correct emotional state the next thought to consider is what are the concepts that should be adopted to grow the desired character — that is to say what concepts represent the proper seeds to be planted to achieve self-actualization? In Psalm 1, the person represented by a healthy and productive tree, which is the center of our new story, meditates on the law of God, takes advice from the right people and avoids negative influences. Meditation, good advice and avoidance of negative influences are all things that promote the positive growth of character but the seed is the starting point. Looking again at the parable of the sower the productive tree is one whose basis is the seed of the word of the kingdom. (Mark 4:14). And when planted in a suitable heart, good ground (Mark 4:20), it bears desirable behavior resulting from a transformed character.
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10,11)
The word of the kingdom is what Jesus called his teaching. He also called it the good news translated as gospel in greek. Calling the teaching the good news is significant because it connects his teaching and ministry to a quote from the Prophet Isaiah recorded in the Book of Isaiah Chapter 55. Jesus read this portion of the scripture in the synagogue when he began teaching. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:17-21).
Jesus’s statement regarding the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy has been broadly interpreted as him laying claim to being the anticipated Messiah with little focus placed on the actual substance of the gospel message. The focus on the identity of the Messiah lead to the popular and broad misinterpretation of what the gospel is. In a majority of Christian circles the term gospel is use to refer to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as an atonement for sin. Although there are a few passages in which Jesus references his death and resurrection the majority of what is recorded about his teaching had nothing at all to do with that. His teaching focused on practical life principles and were coupled with compatible and tangible actions by Jesus in meeting people’s needs. “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23).
Jesus was intentionally indirect in his teaching. As he states in Mark 4:11: ”Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” A strange exclusivity that I do not understand, but he was never unclear about what the good news was. From the time Jesus unrolled the scroll and read from Isaiah 61:1,2 in the synagogue it was clear that he was introducing a way of living that would set people free from some societal ills. The parables suggest that even though the word may seem to be a rather small and simple thing if applied it would result in a revolution of sorts, a Kingdom of God.
Jesus describes the Kingdom of God in many ways, mostly in parable illustrations when taken together create a clearer picture of what this kingdom is. From its name we understand it to be as a kingdom — a realm associated with or regarded as being under the control of God as its sovereign. This was also understood by other teachers of the time who read the writings of Isaiah and the other prophets. They were looking towards the coming Kingdom of Heaven, also referred to as the Kingdom of God, as a new governmental entity on earth. They were looking for it to over throw the earthly kingdom to which they were subjects but Jesus introduced a different concept. He told them that the Kingdom of God would not be set up like earthly governments. “Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20, 21). In other words this kingdom is not a physical city. It is a realm or society of individuals who abide by the rule of God. The Kingdom of God won’t have flags or banners, a military or seats of governance. The Kingdom of God has nothing tangible to point to to identify it, it only has subjects, a community of individuals who commit to living by the same governing principles. Principles given to its citizens by an absentee monarch in the form of ten laws popularly known as the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments is the foundational document of the Kingdom of God much like the United States Constitution is the foundation of the U.S. legal system. The U.S. Constitution, although recognized as written by human beings, is treated as a sacred document, almost infallible. Some may argue that it is. U.S. citizens protect the original intent of the founders vehemently and allow textual changes only sparingly. This preserves the underlying principles, however the U.S. Constitution is viewed as a living document this means that although its language is not formally amended its meaning can be adapted and evolved by interpretation. Similarly the Ten Commandments as taught by Jesus is a living document. He challenged individuals to adapt the letter of the law to the spirit of their circumstances, to see the intent behind the written word. For example he told followers to go beyond the letter of the commandments like you shall not commit murder to broaden it application to circumstance of hate, including speech. (See Matt. 5:21, 22).
The seed of our Tree of Life is the Ten Commandments applied in the method taught to us by Jesus Christ. It is applying the law as a living document adapting its meaning to our present life circumstances while preserving the letter of the law. ““Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5: 17). The law is fulfilled in the prosperous lives of those who apply the law. Those who accept the law as their seed, their guiding principle, will live a life with an outgrowth of proper behavior. Behavior that endears them to others and leads to choices that produce positive outcomes represented in our metaphor of a tree as fruit.
“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16-20)
In the next chapter we will explore the fruit of your Tree of Life.
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