I had originally included this photo in yesterday’s blog post. This is a brochure which our teacher passed around at our recent “Bats on Small Forests” class. It shows all the many ways trees are important to bats:
* Bats forage for insects up in the leafy canopy of trees.
* Bats perch on tree branches for feeding, or protection during bad weather.
* Bats roost in cracks, splits, and crevices of trees.
* Bats roost in tree foliage.
* Bats roost in rot holes of trees.
* Bats roost under loose, peeling bark of trees.
* Bats roost in woodpecker holes.
* Bats hibernate in small tree hollows.
* Bats hibernate beneath loose bark, or under leaf litter.
* Bats use trees (especially when in lines or hedges) as navigational aid.
As I was adding the above image to yesterday’s blog post, the parable popped into my mind which Jesus told about the small, tiny seed growing to become a huge tree (Matthew 13:31-32). Also, the passage in Psalm 1, about the righteous person being like a thriving tree.
“That would make a great blog post.” I thought.
This morning, when I sat down to write a post for today, God led me to go ahead and remove the photo from yesterday’s post … and to give it its own post today. So … today’s post is about how the Kingdom of Heaven is like a tree! And … the righteous person who loves and follows Jesus … is like a tree!
Here are Jesus’s words, in Matthew 13:31-32:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”
Also, Psalm 1:1-3:
“Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his/her delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. This person will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”
Here you can see the Bigleaf Maple tree growing just out from my kitchen window. It is ginormous!!
When the passage in Psalm 1 speaks of the righteous person flourishing and yielding fruit in season … “fruitfulness” for our Bigleaf Maple tree could be yielding delicious Bigleaf Maple syrup!
This is what the righteous person who loves & follows Jesus, and who meditates on God’s word … this is what they are like. Their life is “fruitful” … their life is “flourishing.”
Additionally, this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. The Kingdom of Heaven is all the righteous people on this earth who live according to God’s will, following God’s direction, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, for the ultimate purpose of God’s glory! The Kingdom of Heaven is all about “fruitfulness”! The Kingdom of Heaven is about life-giving, life-sustaining flourishing!
Here you can see the leafy canopy of our Bigleaf Maple tree. This leafy canopy is lifegiving for many forest creatures! According to the brochure about how trees are important to bats: this leafy canopy of our Bigleaf Maple tree provides a place where bats forage for insects.
So also, in the same way, the life of a righteous person is very lifegiving to other people. The “leafy canopy” of their life not only provides “shade from life’s heat” … but their “leafy canopy” provides a place where others can find sustaining wisdom, useful knowledge, helpful instruction, and practical guidance.
Likewise, the Kingdom of Heaven (all the righteous people on earth, living life for God’s will & God’s glory) it is like a lifegiving “leafy canopy”!
On a global scale, the Kingdom of Heaven (God’s power & presence globally in the lives of His people) provides “shade from life’s heat” across all cultures! The Kingdom of Heaven brings flourishing to all cultures, as they follow God’s laws and God’s wisdom!
Here you can see the base of our Bigleaf Maple tree. According to the brochure about how trees are important to bats: Bats hibernate under leaf litter. Can you see the pile of leaf litter caught in the large crevice (basically in the center of the photo)?
So also, the life of a righteous person can provide a place of “shelter” for others who are “weathering tough winter storms” in their life.
The leaves caught in the crevice (in the above photo) are leftover leaves from previous seasons in the tree’s life. So also, the lessons we learn from the previous seasons of our life can become “places of safety” where others can find a “shelter” to “weather” their own storm.
Here you can see a small hollow at the base of the Bigleaf Maple tree. Bats find safe places for winter hibernation in small hollows like this.
So also, the life of a righteous person has “hollows” around the base. We aren’t perfect … our “base” isn’t perfect. We have our own faults, flaws, and failures. But it’s in being honest & real about our faults, flaws, and failures that others can learn from our mistakes. Others can become stronger from the “gaps” and “holes” around our “base.” The “hollows” in our life can become places of “shelter” and “safety” for others.
Here you can see where the branches of the Bigleaf Maple tree branch out. Bats roost in cracks, splits, and crevices of trees … just like where these branches are branching out.
So also, in our life we reach junctures where our life “branches” … we “branch out” to go away to college; we “branch out” to take a new job; we “branch out” to move to a new city; we “branch out” try something different we’ve never done before; etc.
It’s scary to “branch out” in life. But it’s those “branching out” places in our life which ultimately become strong points where others find “shelter.”
We “branched out” and we learned and grew and became stronger because of it. And in those places of strength, others are able to find “shelter.”
Here is one final photo of the Bigleaf Maple tree. Just like birds, bats use trees as navigational aids.
The life of a righteous person can be a huge navigational aid for others who are “lost” and “trying to find their way.”
Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.” – Matthew 13:31-32
“Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his/her delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. This person will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” – Psalm 1:1-3
I want to be … like a tree!
