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Friday, July 1, 2011

We are all trees


My life is like a tree. We are all trees. Jesus loved this analogy and used it often. I am the true vine and you are the branches. Remain in me and I in you. Stay in me. Stay. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15). Most of my days and my walk are spent trying to bear fruit, trying to do what God has called me to do. Grow. Bear fruit. Provide shade and support to others. Love. Etc. Doing what He has commanded me to do. And this is all truth, but I often miss the point entirely. Answer this... What is the primary purpose of an apple tree?

My first response when asked this question was "bear fruit". "Wrong" my friend replied. "That is secondary" he said. Jesus said in John 4 "Whoever drinks of the water that I give will never be thirsty forever..becoming a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The primary purpose of an apple tree is to find water. To focus on your roots and dig down deep. No matter how hard the tree tries to produce fruit and grow and help others, if it doesn't find water... it will die. This simple truth changes everything. And this is the result. You find water below ground and everything else above ground will happen. This means a focus shift, a tipping point. Stop trying above ground. Start pursuing living water. Start pursuing our Savior and let him change what happens above ground because He will. It's what He does.

Here's what it looks like to dig down deep, to be rooted In Christ, to drink from living water... something practical. Read Psalm 63:1-8.