Apple Tree
My husband and I have been sharing a holiday virus just to keep our yearly traditions going so I've been spending a lot of time in bed. I had a terrible dream about my parents and we were getting along miserably (which is not the case when I'm awake). So since the dream actually woke me up, I asked the Lord what it was supposed to represent.
The picture I got was of an apple tree. It was large and full of fruit. As I watched an apple fell from the tree and rolled down a mossy incline away from the tree. Some questions came to my mind, Should the apple reattach to the tree? If it wanted to would there really be a place for it to do so? What would the purpose be of clinging to the tree that it was grow on and then released from? What is the purpose of an apple that falls from a tree? How does the apple's life and death bring new life?
This flurry of questions started me thinking about the dream. It was not similar to the apple tree scenario and yet maybe some of it could be a symbol of family relationships especially children and their parents. I love my parents and worry about their well being, but I can't go back and be a child again or attach myself to my mother's womb as I'm an adult and what would the purpose of that be anyway (especially since it's also a weird thought). If I were to cling to my parents, my purpose in life would not be fulfilled and their plans would be disrupted.
God has individual plans for all of us including plants and animals. We prize the apple's flesh for its juicy, crispy flavor, but the seed that we generally discard is the prize possession of the tree. The apple in nature is a yummy vessel attracting animals to eat it that carry the seed away. Seedlings that do grow under the mother tree, either interfere with the nutrient and water supply of the mother tree, or are shaded by the mother tree and are stunted or die since they cannot get enough sunlight.
Just like the mother tree produces apples hoping they'll be apple trees one day, loving parents produce children hoping they'll be productive adults one day. Parents don't want to have to spend their lives protecting their children and providing for them, not because they don't love them, but because they do. They want their children to have the freedom of independence from the "mother tree" so that they can grow and spring up to live out the plan God has for each child born in this world.
As we think about Christmas, Christians think of the Baby Jesus. But if Jesus had stayed a baby or had refused to leave His human parents, the Christmas story would not exist. A baby didn't save the world. A young man who wouldn't leave home didn't save the world. But a child born of the Holy Spirit of God that grew up and chose to set out, even though He knew it would be painful and difficult. The Son of God, better known as Jesus Christ the Messiah, came to live as an example for humans so that people would know He knew what they were going through. He could "relate" to being human; as He was both God and a frail human of flesh and blood. If Jesus Christ (the apple of God's eye) wasn't "devoured" by the world, if He hadn't died and rose again, our sins would be on us forever, never to be forgotten or forgiven by God and thus we would be unable to join our Holy Creator in Heaven one day.
That is why we call Jesus our living sacrifice since God is just, He cannot take part in sin. Sin is Satan's domain. As the mother tree drops its fruit, it is providing for the next generation of apples. So God, when He dropped His beloved Son from heaven to be a sacrifice for the sins of all the people of this world, God our Father provided for generations of humans to live new lives separate from the choice of rebellion, thus sin, that Adam and Eve released onto the human race when they took a bite from the one tree in the Garden of Eden of which God said not to partake. He knew in His ultimate wisdom that the seed of that fruit would cause worldwide devastation, disease, sin and death, yet He allowed Adam and Eve to choose.
God wants us to be fruitful and enjoy the fruits of our labors, but if we insist on partaking of bad fruit He will not force our hands away from it. But the seeds of whichever fruit we consume will last for generations, not just our lifetimes. We will harvest separation, independence, fear, freedom, life and/or death depending on our decisions. Many blame God when awful things happen to them or around the world. But remember, not just our decisions, but those of humankind around us will influence our lives and the lives of our loved ones. As they say, "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel."
During this Christmas and in the coming new year, produce new fruit which will carry seeds far and wide using the gifts God has given you. Don't cling too close to the mother tree, but rather sprouts wings and fly to the "Son."
The picture I got was of an apple tree. It was large and full of fruit. As I watched an apple fell from the tree and rolled down a mossy incline away from the tree. Some questions came to my mind, Should the apple reattach to the tree? If it wanted to would there really be a place for it to do so? What would the purpose be of clinging to the tree that it was grow on and then released from? What is the purpose of an apple that falls from a tree? How does the apple's life and death bring new life?
This flurry of questions started me thinking about the dream. It was not similar to the apple tree scenario and yet maybe some of it could be a symbol of family relationships especially children and their parents. I love my parents and worry about their well being, but I can't go back and be a child again or attach myself to my mother's womb as I'm an adult and what would the purpose of that be anyway (especially since it's also a weird thought). If I were to cling to my parents, my purpose in life would not be fulfilled and their plans would be disrupted.
God has individual plans for all of us including plants and animals. We prize the apple's flesh for its juicy, crispy flavor, but the seed that we generally discard is the prize possession of the tree. The apple in nature is a yummy vessel attracting animals to eat it that carry the seed away. Seedlings that do grow under the mother tree, either interfere with the nutrient and water supply of the mother tree, or are shaded by the mother tree and are stunted or die since they cannot get enough sunlight.
Just like the mother tree produces apples hoping they'll be apple trees one day, loving parents produce children hoping they'll be productive adults one day. Parents don't want to have to spend their lives protecting their children and providing for them, not because they don't love them, but because they do. They want their children to have the freedom of independence from the "mother tree" so that they can grow and spring up to live out the plan God has for each child born in this world.
As we think about Christmas, Christians think of the Baby Jesus. But if Jesus had stayed a baby or had refused to leave His human parents, the Christmas story would not exist. A baby didn't save the world. A young man who wouldn't leave home didn't save the world. But a child born of the Holy Spirit of God that grew up and chose to set out, even though He knew it would be painful and difficult. The Son of God, better known as Jesus Christ the Messiah, came to live as an example for humans so that people would know He knew what they were going through. He could "relate" to being human; as He was both God and a frail human of flesh and blood. If Jesus Christ (the apple of God's eye) wasn't "devoured" by the world, if He hadn't died and rose again, our sins would be on us forever, never to be forgotten or forgiven by God and thus we would be unable to join our Holy Creator in Heaven one day.
That is why we call Jesus our living sacrifice since God is just, He cannot take part in sin. Sin is Satan's domain. As the mother tree drops its fruit, it is providing for the next generation of apples. So God, when He dropped His beloved Son from heaven to be a sacrifice for the sins of all the people of this world, God our Father provided for generations of humans to live new lives separate from the choice of rebellion, thus sin, that Adam and Eve released onto the human race when they took a bite from the one tree in the Garden of Eden of which God said not to partake. He knew in His ultimate wisdom that the seed of that fruit would cause worldwide devastation, disease, sin and death, yet He allowed Adam and Eve to choose.
God wants us to be fruitful and enjoy the fruits of our labors, but if we insist on partaking of bad fruit He will not force our hands away from it. But the seeds of whichever fruit we consume will last for generations, not just our lifetimes. We will harvest separation, independence, fear, freedom, life and/or death depending on our decisions. Many blame God when awful things happen to them or around the world. But remember, not just our decisions, but those of humankind around us will influence our lives and the lives of our loved ones. As they say, "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel."
During this Christmas and in the coming new year, produce new fruit which will carry seeds far and wide using the gifts God has given you. Don't cling too close to the mother tree, but rather sprouts wings and fly to the "Son."
John 3:3-5
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
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