The world seems to be in its time of winter. Sometimes our spiritual lives can feel the emptiness of winter. But a tree full of sap is full of summer and life and beauty, and fruit and vigour. God tells us He has planted us as trees. In His eyes He sees us as trees full of sap.

A tree that is full of sap has a hidden life. There is as much activity below as above. We see a huge oak with its sheltering branches. Out of sight is a world of action, quite as large as the spreading greenery. It is the same with a fruit tree. The visible beauty - the leaves that unfurl, the blossoms that come and the fruit that develops - is the result of the same hidden activity and growth. It is the hidden life that is important.

First and foremost the aim of the tree is for water and food. Its roots grow and expand, seeking out the life-giving moisture in the soil, and the pockets of nutrients. As the tree feeds and drinks the healthy sap rises to the topmost bough that expands to the sun. Sometimes as with maple trees the sap is full of sweetness and is much prized as a delicacy. If you put specialist listening devices to the trunk of a tree it is even possible to hear the sap rising!

The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted. 

That they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. 

Below ground level, it is not all easy for the roots of the tree. As they search for the water of life and the bread of life the little roots meet with obstacles. It has the choice to give up and die because the struggle is hard or it can persevere to get to the lifegiving fluid and nutrients. Only as the roots continue their work and their search can the tree remain full of sap.  A summer tree that is not full of sap is only fit for the axe!

Can you see the story of our Christian lives in these nature notes. God is looking for the trees of His planting to be full of sap. He is looking to have good fruit. This is the harvest towards which we are ripening day by day. The fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit is the sap that flows through us. So where is all the activity taking place – in tying what looks like love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and  temperance above ground, so that we look good? Or below ground, unseen, digging deep in the word of God, seeking bread and water for the day, and determining to obey our God in spite of all the hard obstacles that we meet.

How does the sap flow through us? It is by faith. We trust God and we obey Him. We talk with Him in prayer and He directs our thoughts upward to the sun, far above the obstacles and boulders that try to hinder us. Let us continue to grow in grace and hope and courage. We cannot grow ourselves but we can push our roots into the Word of God, for within is found our power for living, our sustenance and our ripening for harvest. It may come as a surprise to us one day to see that the tears and the sacrifice of time and comfort have ripened the beautiful fruit that only God and other eyes could see. We shall have been a blessing and a sweetness to the Lord. Our lives will have been worthwhile. Let us aim this week  to turn our ways around, to develop a strong hidden root system and stop trying to tie on look-alike fruit, before God’s axe is finally laid at our roots.

He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.