Are You a Tree?

Daniel 4:10-12 These are the visions I saw while lying in my bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, and the birds of the air lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.”
 
HAVE you thought how trees are used for various images throughout the Bible? In Genesis 2 are the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Eve picked the fruit from the former, and sin entered. God banned Adam and Eve – and all mankind – from the Tree of Life until the new heaven and earth: Revelation 22:2b On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
     Trees are also images of rulers and countries to be cut down under God’s authority: Isaiah 10:34 He will cut down the forest thickets (the leaders) with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One. In contrast, trees picture God’s strong, faithful people: Psalms 1:3 The one who meditates on God’s law  is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. And in Isaiah 61:3b They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
    Nebuchadnezzar certainly saw the abundant, fruitful tree in his dream relating to his life. That’s why he was afraid, even terrified. We aren’t afraid when others are threatened are we? But if we perceive danger in our own future, fear will, indeed, grip our hearts.
    As a result, the king could not let this pass and dismiss it as “just a dream”. He needed an answer. Daniel is the only person on earth who could possibly have the means to tell him. Daniel is a as the man from Psalm 1. He meditates continually on God’s Word. He is rooted in God’s living water to prosper in the Lord’s wisdom. In Isaiah’s words, Daniel is an oak of righteousness planted in Babylon. God is using him to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
    What kind of tree are you? Empty or full of fruit? Shallow roots or deeply embedded in God’s Word to grow in strength and confidence? Are you a tree of life for a world afraid of the future?
 
Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”