A fruit-bearing tree...
- Nicole R. Smith
- Mar 4, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 21, 2023
I've always loved trees... I'm fascinated by the way they stand tall and proud, their branches and leaves reaching for the sun. Their colors reflect the changing seasons- brilliant in the fall; vibrant and green in the spring and summer seasons; appearing lifeless and hopeless in the winter months, but never doubting, always standing tall and waiting for new life...
As a child, I spent endless hours in the woods behind our house. There were avocado, mulberry and bamboo trees; and one we called "madoni" which I've recently learned is a Jambolan plum tree. We considered the lantana bushes a weed, and apparently, there were Cannabis plants growing there too... but, in my Mom's words, "ignorance is bliss." Anyway, I digress... If those woods could speak, they'd tell of our adventures... pretending to build roads through the dense thicket, making fires to cook a meal with ingredients stolen from each child's home, and climbing the tallest trees for the best view.
My all time favorite in South Africa is the Jacaranda tree; and I loved when the fragrant purple blooms fell, blanketing the earth beneath them.
In the book of Jeremiah, the Lord likens a man who trusts in Him to a tree planted by the water. And I want to be like that fruit-bearing tree standing still and calm and unafraid...
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit. (Jer 17:7-8)
God knows the tortuous nature of the human heart; He knows we are prone to put our trust in human beings, not in Him; prone to stray from His way and teachings; prone to choose our own comforts and desires over His will for us. May we use this Lent to stretch out our roots to Jesus, our source of living water; and when He probes our minds and tests our hearts, may He find a people who have chosen to trust in the Lord.
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