During my middle to elderly years, a significant percentage of
Florida’s orange groves have been sold, and replaced by condos and storefronts.
And yet, if you drive through my little corner of the world, you will still see
hundreds of fruit trees growing along major highways and rural roads.
In recent years grove owners have done “something new and
different,” (and something they had never done before). They have begun to
plant fast growing eucalyptus trees between their orange trees and the
roadways. As a result, it seems they have sprung up as quickly as any trees I
have ever seen, and in short order have reached heights of 30-40 feet.
While I have never asked a grove owner about the purposes of such
trees, I have conjectured they have been planted to: 1. Serve as a border
between the orange trees and people tempted to pick their fruit. 2. Serve as a
wind break during especially cold winter days, thus reducing the temperature in
the groves by a few degrees, and thus protecting the trees and fruit. 3. Serve
as an attractive roadside perimeter.
One day during New Testament times, Jesus’ disciples were walking
along a dirt road, and began to experience hunger. Well, I’ll let the scripture
tell the story.
Pt. 2
One Sabbath day, Christ and the Twelve happened to be walking through a field of grain. And as they walked through the grain field, His disciples began to pick and eat the kernels.
With this, the Pharisees, (who seemed to always be nearby) said to Jesus,
"Do you see what your disciples are doing? Don’t they know that what they are doing is not allowed on the Sabbath day?"
And the Lord responded with the following words:
"Surely, you have read what David did when he and his friends felt hungry? Do you know that he went into the house of the God when Abiathar was High Priest, and he began to eat the ceremonial loaves, (which no one is allowed to eat, except the priests), and gave some of the bread to the men who accompanied him?” Mark 2:23-26, McDonald Paraphrase of the New Testament
(You will soon see why I included the foregoing passage).
As my wife and I were driving along a state highway today, Jean glanced to her right, and asked,
“Are they replacing the border trees which were knocked down by the recent hurricane?”
I responded.
“Those aren’t eucalyptus saplings. They are orange tree seedlings.” (and) “They apparently decided to use the border space to grow fruit.”
Pt. 3
And it was then that I thought about the passage of scripture in which the disciples stripped the stalks of the grain.
During Bible times strangers were permitted to partake of the grain in the fields, as they walked along the road. It was considered a courtesy to the poor and hungry as they journeyed from one city to another.
And an unexpected metaphor sprang to my mind.
The Pharisees attempted to prevent the disciples from eating the grains of wheat, (or as it were, the fruit of the fields) and are very much like the border trees which have been planted along the roadside to protect the fruit from anyone inclined to grab a few oranges; (as I once did as a boy).
As believers we too easily adopt a “Us two and not you” or “Us four and no more” mindset, and we erect artificial borders between ourselves and those whom God has predestined us to impact. Whether conscious or unconscious, we deny them the spiritual fruit which we have been freely given to enjoy. Whereas, we stand on the shoulders of giants who have generously shared from their bounty with us, we bear little or no fruit, and erect self-righteous borders between ourselves, and those whom God has set in our pathway.
This tendency of believers to hedge ourselves in, and hedge others out may have any number of causations.
Perhaps we are too preoccupied with “yours truly” and the daily business of getting up, going to work, coming home, watching television and going to sleep. Only to begin again the next day. Perhaps we are content with the spiritual victories of the past, and (speaking of trees) begin to “rest upon our laurels.” Perhaps we have acquired a bias towards a given population or economic status, find ourselves hoarding our fruit, and erecting proverbial walls between ourselves and others. Perhaps we are content to be “people of mediocrity,” rather than “people of excellence.”
Pt. 4
I think it is relevant here to reflect on what our Master had to say about the topic.
"I am the Vine, and my Father prunes the branches. He trims away any of My branches which fail to bear fruit. And He prunes each branch which bears fruit to increase the amount of fruit which it produces.
“Now, you have been cleansed as the result of the water of my Words. You must go on maturing in Me and I will, in turn, abide in you. For just as the branch cannot produce viable fruit, unless it receives adequate nourishment from the vine, so you will not produce anything of real quality or value, unless you maintain a substantial connection with Me. I will always be the Vine. You will always be the branches.
“The man who derives his life from Me will bear eatable fruit. If the connection which exists between you and Me is severed, you will be incapable of achieving anything of spiritual value. The man who doesn’t rely on Me for adequate nutrition is very much like a branch which has been severed from a tree; which having been broken off can only whither.
“Such a man is no better than a dead stick which has fallen on the ground which men pick up, and use to fuel their furnace, or bake their bread. But, if you share the sustenance which flows from My life, and My Words abide in you, you can ask for anything, (according to My will) and it will be done for you. This is how My Father will receive glory, if you will follow Me, and go right on bearing eatable fruit.” John 15:1-8, McDonald Paraphrase of the New Testament
I think we have much to learn from the metaphor of the border trees and orange trees, the story of the disciples in the grain fields, and Jesus’ admonition that, as believers, we have been called to bear fruit for the Kingdom.
I will never think of those eucalyptus trees along the roadside the same way again.
by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending
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