TREE OF LOVE

Recently I received an unexpected, unique treasure from a friend. He was cutting wood at his camp and saw this masterpiece.

 

 

He thought of me because he knows God keeps putting hearts in my path daily. The hearts are reminders of God’s great love for me and to love others with His agape love.

This masterpiece was formed by the growing together of two lilac trees. Each tree “happened” to have part of the design that formed a perfect heart shape on the inside grain when the two trees became one.

~How did God make that happen?

~How did God make both sides of the heart have threads of purple embedded in them?

~How did God make the outside bark of the two trees also form a heart?

 

I believe there is a parallel with our lives. What if our life and God were symbolic of the two trees? When we recognize our need for God, our life becomes united with Him. Our heart then becomes one with God, and we are made whole! Our lives reflect threads of goodness from God’s life.

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.  –1 Corinthians 6:17  (NIV)

 

I am in awe of God displaying His love for us even through a piece of wood from a tree. God is the creator of everything on this earth.  His presence is exalted in and through all of nature. God’s love is planted in all things!

 

 

Reflecting on the beauty of this wood made me delve into Scripture to see what lessons the trees in this world can teach us.

The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  –Genesis 2:9  (NLT)

May our lives be like the most beautiful trees because of the delicious fruit that comes from the love of God reflected in our lives. May we always keep the tree of life at the center of our lives as we seek to live righteous lives.

 

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”  –Jeremiah 17:7-8  (ESV)

May we trust the Lord in all circumstances bearing fruit at all times. May our lives be planted firmly in God, with our roots continually growing and spreading, as God provides us with the living water.

 

Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth.  –1 Chronicles 16:33  (NLT)

May we sing for joy before the Lord, as the trees of the forest do, because of His love and goodness for all He has done for us. We know His righteousness covers the multitude of our sins. 

 

Photo courtesy of BK under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 

I believe the greatest lesson we can reflect on from the tree is this:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  –John 3:14-16  (NIV)

In the Old Testament, the Lord told Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole. When someone bitten by a snake looked up at the bronze snake, they would live rather than die. (Numbers 21:4-9) So it is with all who look at Jesus lifted up on the cross and believe in Him. They will live for all eternity. We have eternal life because Jesus died on the wood of a tree, a tree of love!

 

This week may you take a few minutes to reflect upon and give thanks to God for the tree of life He provides in your life. I encourage you to:

*keep the tree of love at the center of your life.

*be as the tree planted near the water whose roots grow and spread further as you put your trust in God.

*sing for joy because of God’s goodness in your life.

*share your heartfelt gratitude to God for sending Jesus, who died on the tree of love for you personally.

 

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.  –Colossians 2:7  (NLT)