The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life: A glimpse into the loving heart of the Almighty Creator God

In the book of Revelation John writes what God told him in a vision about the church at Ephesus. In Revelation chapter 2 God gives the church at Ephesus constructive criticism. But to those who persevere He says (The Message, the Bible)” I’m spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God’s orchard“.

Now wait, this is the same tree that was in the garden of Eden at the very beginning. This is the same tree Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from . But after their disobedience that same tree was protected by the angel so that Adam and Eve could not eat of it. The reason: God did not want us to eat of the fruit of Life after being separated from Him because of Sin (our disobedience). He did not want to be separated from us forever. So he guarded the tree from us. But when things got so out of hand Jesus stepped in and offered us The Way to living forever with our Creator. He taught and lived how we must live ( Luke 10:27 ). Fast forward to Revelation 2 : if we don’t forget our first love (our Creator) and we persevere in doing what the Lord requires of us – to act justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) we are invited to a banquet with the Tree-of-Life fruit!! We are invited to participate with our Creator God in celebrating Life.

The Tree-of-Life is described (Revelation 22) as a tree found on either side of the river bearing 12 kinds of fruit with leaves that bring healing for the nations. There is no longer any curse.

In my study I found that many cultures have this metaphor of the tree-of-life. In some cultures it is a circle of life (seed-plant-tree-flowers-fruit-seed). For others it is a metaphor of living and letting others live (a healthy tree prevents soil erosion, has strong branches, provides shade and home to many animals etc). But the significance of the Tree-of-Life in this passage drew me to my Father’s heart. What an amazing and loving God we have. It was out of love He gave us that fruit, that same love led Him to keep us away from the Tree-of-Life fruit after we made alliance with the Evil one. How beautifully He shows us and gives us the Way to eat of this same fruit so we may be with our Creator God forever and in the end He prepares a table with that same fruit for us… What an incentive to persevere in this Life. Persevere doing what the Lord requires of us, to love God with all our hearts and minds and strength And to Love our neighbor as ourselves.

Yesturday we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. My 8 year old daughter was working on an assignment of writing about 3 ways she could change the world like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did. It was an assignment that made me ponder over some ways God is calling me to ‘love my neighbor as much as I love myself’.On Sunday January 17th I was reminded by Pasor Matt Heard that we all need to live out our purpose and ‘the purpose lies in the mind of the Creator’. You are standing in your story, Get with your Creator and find your role in the larger story. Persevere so that you too may eat of the banquet of the fruit of the Tree-of-Life.

This doodle has been influenced by some folk art from different parts of India. Kalamkari flowers from Kalamkari textile art form from Andra Pradesh and Madhubani art form from Bihar .