Sharing Trees

The Bible often uses trees as symbols of people. Sometimes they present individuals, as in our text for today, and sometimes they stand for whole nations of people, as in the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s mental illness (Daniel 4). The apostle Paul talks about the Christian church as being a holy tree (Romans 11). When we accept Jesus as our savior, we become branches on that holy tree.

In studying the old-growth forest of the northwestern United States, Oregon State University researchers have discovered one of the most amazing facts of nature, a fact that demonstrates one of the characteristics of being a member of the church that Jesus established.

The trees of the forest share nutrients with one another through their roots. A tree sends its roots far and wide through the soil on its never-ending search for more nourishment. Where the conditions are right, as they are in the old-growth forest, the roots of one tree encounter those of another. And here is where the miracle takes place. Growing in profusion in the lush soil of the virgin forest is a kind of fungus called Mycorrhiza (pronounced my-cor-RYE-za). The filaments of the Mycorrhiza fungi latch on to the roots of the living trees. The same fungus plant may have filaments attached to the roots of two or more trees.

Throughout the forest the Mycorrhiza fungi connect trees through their roots. These fungi form channels from one tree to another, passing nutrients through the forest from trees that receive more light to trees that receive less, and from trees growing where the soil is rich in certain essential nutrients to the trees growing where the soil can’t provide those nutrients. By linking together the forest through the roots of the trees, the Mycorrhiza enable the entire forest to be a single unit, with every tree contributing it can, and with every tree getting provided with sufficient food to meet its needs.

As members of God’s church on earth, we share freely with one another from what God has given us. We pass on to each other the spiritual that God gives us and the spiritual nourishment that we obtain from his Word.

A Word From Our Creator:

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.

Psalm 1:3