Tree of Life

I was in a great class today with our new ward (our boundaries were rearranged) and it was in that first elders quorum lesson that there was a condensed discussion on the subject of the Tree of Life. For those that don't know what this is, its a tree that produces a fruit so desired that you would give everything for. For us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, its the gospel of Jesus Christ; the knowledge of God and his Son, the Messiah of the world.

While we were learning about how much faith played in our lives and our success on learning who God is and what He wants for us His children, we make the point that for each of us the fruit of the Tree of Life is different for each of us. For some this means that a person loves the sacrament, others it might be the role of tithing; the elements that bring out the best of us and strengthen our faith. As a side note, my faith has been built by trial of physical events that ask for me to pray and call out to the Lord for help. The Lord has been mindful of me and answered my prayers.

While I was in the course the idea of a tree that has had limbs grafted into it like a citrus tree that has oranges, limes and lemons. By itself the tree would only gain the experience of oranges or just lemons etc... but grafting a tree through painful for the tree creates something that can be so beneficial to everyone that owns one of these graft trees.

The Lord knows all too much about grafting but this part of my life where I am the tree and the fruit is now coming out of my work and faith is a new realization. I have always seen the fruit of the Tree of Life as an outside is a brand new thought. The fruit that I am called to produce must be sweet and desirable and bring others to the great and divine tree that all should seek to partake.

A bit of a big load huh?

Thankfully the Lord groups the trees of this fantastic fruit through gathering the saints. After all, the fruit of the saints are not always sweet (think of grapefruits). So mixing experiences and tastes of life is almost crucial. How grateful am I for that? Very. I love our savior and his master plan. I don't always understand it but man I love being a part of it.