Trees, Trees, Trees...

Bread. Grapes. Figs. Pomegranates. Olives. Dates. And cake. Lots and lots of cake.

Today is a very special day on the ancient Biblical calendar, and one of the three ''new years'' on the Hebrew calendar too. It's a day dedicated to remember some very special ingredients for baking some pretty scrumptious cakes... just kidding, sort of!

Can you guess what feast we're celebrating?

I'll give you a clue, if you haven't guessed it already. It's the day we celebrate the tree's birthdays.

Yep, you've got it - Tu B'Shvat!

Tu B'Shvat is a special day on the Hebrew calendar since ancient times, a day when every tree has a birthday. It has to do with the commandment given in the Torah, in Leviticus 19:23-25:

''When you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees for food, you are to consider their fruits as forbidden. Three years it will be forbidden to you. It is not to be eaten. Then in the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, for giving praise to ADONAI. In the fifth year you may eat its fruit. So it will yield its increase to you. I am ADONAI your God.''

Even though the Torah doesn't specifically tell us to celebrate the feast (just like Purim and Chanukkah) it is still a great day to remember His Word and to celebrate before Him and thank Him for all the wonderful things He has blessed us with. It's also a great time to press in and ask God to increase the fruit we bear in our own lives, to help us to grow in the Fruit of the Spirit, and that we will yield our increase to the Father who planted us right where we are.

Let's take a look at what fruit we will mainly be thinking of when we hear the words Tu B'Shvat.

Pomegranate (producing hundredfold, always giving more and more)

Grape (roots go deep, joy giving, pruned yet giving more, treaded on to bring forth sweetness and joy)

Olive (hard pressed, yet healing, evergreen)

Date (sweet as honey)

Fig

Pomegranates are very special fruit trees indeed. I love how the fruit looks beautiful on the outside, but my favourite part is what lies in the inside. The heart of the fruit it bears is always giving more and more and more, producing hundredfold what had been planted. From one tree comes forth hundreds of new seeds to be planted. To me, it's a great picture of what one faithful soul can be. Just one faithful soul can have such a huge impact on those around them. Even just one good pomegranate carries so many seeds to share and spread around. But to get to the faithful fruit's goodness, and to enable the fruit to be spread around, it has to be broken open. It has to be split in half in order for it's goodness to be spread. To bring forth it's full potential, it has to go through a stage of letting go of it's shell that it has made to protect itself. For me, coming from a place where I all too often build walls around myself, this is a good reminder that when it feels as if my whole world is falling apart and I don't know what is going on, God is still in control and that He hasn't forsaken me or abandoned me. He's just trying to gently remove the strongholds I have set up for myself and help me to flourish in Him. To learn to have faith in Him that He is my protection, and that even though I can't always see what fruit I'm hiding, He knows what's in my heart and He will help me spread His goodness far and wide. Outside of my shell, I will be able to learn how to share, to give, and to do good. In that place of being fully dependant on Him, I have room to give and to do good. Only in that safe place in His arms can I learn to let Him help me shine.

Grapes are another interesting fruit. Let's start with the vines themselves. Grape vines have extraordinary roots. Did you know that their roots can stretch for 30 meters underground? Their roots go down very, very deep, bringing minerals and nutrients from great depths to produce their amazing fruit. Because their roots go down so deep, they manage to survive in a whole lot of difficult circumstances, and still bear fruit. Every year, during the winter months, they need to be pruned back quite a considerable amount to help them produce more fruit that summer/autumn. In in order for their fruit to produce wine (which is often compared to joy and gladness) they have to be treaded on to extract their precious juices.

When I think about grape vines and grapes, in the order I've listed it here, the first part with the roots always reminds me of the Jewish people. They have been so strongly rooted in the Torah, that today, 4,000 year later, they are still here, keeping the Torah, teaching it to those around them and helping them get a better understanding of God's Word. I don't think any other culture or religion has been around that long, or survived to this day as the Jewish people have (that's got to count for something - God is faithful to His people forever!). Even in Christianity, we haven't lasted so long - why, we have thousands of different sects! The Torah, the root, has kept them together through all the exiles, persecutions, rejection. It's what has kept them alive to this very day. What an amazing testimony and encouragement to us who have 'rediscovered' the Torah, and the Root that goes deep into it! Yeshua, the Root, brings all the 'minerals and nutrients' out of the Torah and in turn give it to us to help us bear fruit through Him. We must let God graft us into His vine, and to be rooted and grounded in love, as it says in Ephesians 3:16-19:

''I pray that from His glorious riches He would grant you to be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Ruach [such and the Fruit of the Spirit], so that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to grasp with all the kedoshim what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Messiah which surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled up with all the fullness of God.''

Like the vine, do not be afraid when God prunes you back in the cold, difficult times of your life (I'm speaking to myself here). There are some things we all have in our lives that need to be cut away, like selfishness, pride, or just things we have in our life that prevent us from bearing more fruit. Just like pruning a vine looks terrible for a time, when spring comes, beauty emerges like never before. God isn't giving you a hard time because He hates you. He's giving you this time as a blessing and only in love, love that surpasses knowledge. And just like grapes have to be treaded and crushed to make wine, sometimes He has to send us through a refining process to help us be more joyful. I know it sounds crazy, as I often struggle to grasp it too. But He says,

''For He inflicts pain, but He also binds up; He injures, yet His hands also heal.'' Job 5:18

Just like after the grapes are tread to create wine (which brings joy later on) so also our joy comes in the morning. And that joy WILL come!

This blog post is getting kinda long, so I'll just say something about olives before I sign off...

Olive trees are extremely tough trees. They are hardy and can survive almost anywhere, still producing fruit. But, their fruit is bitter, and can't be eaten straight from the tree. They need to be either pressed or preserved before they can be used to full effect. And to harvest olives requires quite a lot of patience and stamina (trust me - it isn't an easy job!). Sometimes, we feel as if we're strong and ready to go. Our fruit is ripe! But if we share the fruit we have just like that, it can end up disastrous, just like giving someone a raw olive results in some pretty disgusted facial expressions and sometimes a little bit of distrust. We need to let God bring our fruit to fulness, doing the best we can everyday. Sometimes it takes poles and rakes and hitting to get the olives harvested. And that's okay, because we're strong and tough in Him. He will take the fruit and turn it into olive oil (used for light, healing and many other things in Bible times) or preserve it to make a delicious treat to add to our everyday dishes and meals. The olives are useful for healing only after they have gone through a process of refinement. Through the fruit that we bear, if we let God take charge of it, we can bring healing and light to those who need it most.

One last thing - when you are going through something difficult or struggling, remember not to cut down the trees as you fight the battle to conquer whatever you are facing (Deuteronomy 20:19). Don't destroy the good fruits you have, or will receive after the battle is won. Keep them and keep growing in them, but don't destroy everything just because you think it isn't worth it anymore or because you'll never make it. You WILL make it, because He promised in His great love to always help us.

Shalom and Chag Tu B'Shvat Sameach!

''You did not chose Me, but I chose you. I selected you so that you would go and produce fruit, and your fruit would remain.'' John 15:16