Tree Planted by Streams of Water - print

During a prayer meeting at church, several ladies shared verses about trees and I was inspired to paint this as a combination of all the trees.

 

As I was painting this, it struck me that it is the tree's responsibility to be positioned by the stream and to dig it's roots down into the water, just as we choose what we put our roots in. When we put our roots into God's word, God grows us (it is not a result of our own striving) and the tree becomes shelter and shade for birds and animals that come to it.

 

Jeremiah 17:8 'They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

 

Isaiah 61:3 'They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.'

 

Matthew 13:31-32 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.'

 

Psalm 1:2-3 'Blessed is the one... whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.'