Trees and plants are all around us. There are big trees, little trees, wild trees, old trees and even ones you can park your car inside. Trees are a wonderful gift to mankind. You may notice that I love to take pictures of trees nearly everywhere I go.
I know that I mentioned Fig trees already, but there are so many types of trees and they all have so many unique things about them I could write a book! Since so many peole have already done this, I’ll just chat about some of the awesome things trees do for us and how it can mirror our relationships with God.
I will start with vegetation. Plants and trees are not just pretty to look at, they are good for people and animals alike. However, there are some that are not good for anyone. One thing I remember as a child was that my brother liked to go out into the woods and gather different types of roots, cook them in the oven and make tea with them. Ginger root, rose root, dandelion root, licorice root, and turmeric root are all examples of plants you can find, scavenge and cook in the oven to make into teas and other remedies. Different parts of plants are good for everything from headaches, heart pain, bruising, broken bones, arthritis, asthma and so much more! Mint leaves can be used for nearly every ailment (not in the eyes). I use to grow peppermint because if you eat the leaves when you have an upset stomach it can help calm it. If you are sick eating peppermint helps for many reasons. I love using plants and trees leaves and oils to help in various ways even when I am sick.
That isn’t all! The bamboo plant is being pushed into the smaller and poorer communities around the world. Bamboo has one of the highest CO2 and O2 levels than any other plant. This means that bamboo (that grows like wildfire once planted) is cheap and it can be used to light a fire or warm up a house even if it is wet. It is also extremely good as a house because of the amount of good Oxygen it contains. It may be more expensive over here, but where it grows rampant in South America and Asia, many people can create houses and villages with it for cheap. I often see it growing in random spots around town and didn’t know why. When it rains, bamboo roots gather the rain and hold onto it. That way when there is a drought, the bamboo trees and the trees around it will still thrive off of the water around it! Guess who made bamboo! God knew what He was doing when He created it! If you really look at some of these plants and trees you can see how awesome they really are and more than one reason they were created for us. It wasn’t just for us to admire them, but to use them too for so many things. Each tree is unique! They all have different amazing and awesome attributes that help us as we endeavor in this thing called, ‘life’.
In Ezekiel 47: 12 it says, “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” If you look at the forward verses of this one you will see that God put these trees and plants right there to help His people. Trees and plants around you today, were placed there for the same reason. Go back in the history of any land you live in and see how your ancestors used the trees around them and the plants around them for various reasons from building houses, tools, medicines, and food for their families.
Next time you look at a tree, find out what it is and how it can help you, help your community or help the creatures around you. You will see so much more than a tree, you will see another awesome creation of God!