Trees

As I was reading the Gospel of Mark this morning, a curious response caught my attention.
Jesus was traveling with His disciples, and the Scripture reads:

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.  He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”  He looked up and said,

“I see people;
they look like trees
walking around.” 

                                       MARK 8:22-24

The Lord uses the reference of trees several times throughout the Scriptures. 

It could be easy to hurry past and miss the imagery and profound response of this man! 

A large and thriving tree requires a a tremendous root structure.
The part underground is vital to sustaining the visible growth above.  

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams
    of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.  PSALM 1:1-3

In the beginning, God created life and all that would sustain it.  
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  A river watering the garden flowed from Eden...  GENESIS 2:9-10

The Bible is the story of

LIFE - - DEATH - - LIFE

God created life, not death.  Death came as Adam and Eve believed the lie that they could be like God and demonstrated their independence.  Life, "life that is truly life," is found only in the Lord of Life, Jesus Christ.  

...the living Word

...the bread of life

...the one from whom living water flows 

Our taking in of His Word every day is the water that gives and sustains life.  Without water, life withers quickly.  The nourishment from this water creates life in people, who become agents of life-giving health to those around them.

Jesus says:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.  JOHN 5:24

The apostle John writes in the last chapter of the Bible:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  REVELATION 22:1-2

Mission, Jesus style is to live in delight of the ways of the Lord and to be sources of life to those with whom we come in contact.  Let your roots run deep as you dig into the Word of God daily SO THAT you can be the life-giving source of healing to those around you.  

The leaves of the tree were never intended to just be beautiful,
they were intended for the healing of the nations!

...for the healing of all the people of the world!