No, I don’t mean sentimental or corny; someone given to syrupy-sweet emotion or foolish romantic ideas. I don’t mean being the first to cry at a touching story. I’m talking about a different kind of “sappy” …

“The trees of the Lord are full of sap” (Psalm 104:16).

I studied tree sap in science class but it’s been way too many years, so I had to refresh my memory about what it is and why it’s important. Turns out sap is the life-giving “blood” of the plant and is composed of two transport systems called xylem and phloem. The xylem runs only one way, bringing water and minerals from the roots up. The phloem takes the sugars and amino acids created by photosynthesis from the leaves into the rest of the tree, nourishing it for growth. In some trees (like the sugar maple) the sugar content in the phloem is so high, its sap can be tapped and boiled down to provide food for us too … syrup for our pancakes.

When we lived in Minnesota I planted two small, ornamental apple trees. I was looking forward to them adding color to our backyard in the spring. But when spring rolled around the next year I was horrified to discover some animal had chewed the bark in a complete circle around the tiny trunks of both trees. I drove to the nursery where I’d bought them and asked the salespeople what I should do. They shook their heads gravely and said, “Might as well just dig them up and replace them, because once the xylem is cut like that, they have no hope of surviving.” This was devastating news. Sentimental fool that I was, I was already attached to the trees. I went home and instead of digging them up I prayed for them.  Yes, I laid hands on them and asked the Lord to have mercy on them and restore the source of their life. And you know what? He did. They’re still standing today, testifying to God’s faithfulness.

In Psalm 104 the psalmist could be speaking of actual trees, but I suspect he had another kind of tree in mind … the people planted by the Lord to give testimony to His loving care.

“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing” (Psalm 92:13-14, NKJV).

Have you ever thought of yourself as a tree? Someone rooted and established by God himself? This is essentially what happens when we’re born again of His Spirit. No longer an orphan tree struggling to survive in unpredictable and often harsh conditions … alone, weak, and barren … we’re suddenly transported into an orchard where we’re planted and tended by the Lord himself! Under His care, we’re nourished and built up as His life-giving sap flows through us. The result? Glorious, lush fruit.

The sappier we are, the greater our capacity for growth and fruitfulness. Paul prayed that we might be “strengthened with power through [God’s] Spirit … rooted and established in love.” He knew the result would be glorious, both for us and for God. “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16, 19).

Sometimes the channel of blessing, the xylem of our inner lives, has to be restored by God’s touch. It can get clogged or cut by outside predators and enemies or stop flowing because of our resistance. Whatever the reason, we can ask the Lord to come and open up these channels again. Once we’ve been planted by Him and we receive the new life of His Spirit it’s never too late to be restored.

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 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” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

Sometimes we read a verse like this and think we must not be connected to God because we are often fruitless and full of fear. We don’t feel like we’re “always green” and we certainly let the Lord down more times than we want to admit. In our estimation, our spiritual fruit is paltry, wormy, and spotted. But looks can be deceiving.

Have you ever noticed fruit-bearing trees are not the most attractive trees?

The one-hundred-year-old tree in our back yard in Merrickville was gnarled and pockmarked. It’d withstood years of struggle battling insects, droughts, and other enemies. While its outward appearance was far from pristine, the abundance of apples it produced each year was phenomenal considering its age. Because of its lavish yield, our family enjoyed apple butter, apple crisp, and lots of apple pies throughout the fall and winter months.

That’s the thing about fruit … it’s a blessing to others. It’s not something the tree itself benefits from – it’s produced as an overflow of its health and vitality. As trees of the Lord, we might feel like we’ve failed to glorify God by our lives. But we don’t know what a difference we’ve made to those around us.

It seems the Lord hides from us (lest we get lifted up in pride) all the ways He’s using us. He’s the only One who can accurately gauge how fruitful we are. Other people may enjoy our fruit but never be aware of how it was produced or recognize where it comes from. The fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control come from God’s Spirit having access to our lives. These fruits are produced naturally and easily as we abide in Christ. It’s only when we become independent and move away from Him that we begin to wither and die.

George Verwer writes in his book Come! Live! Die!:

God is far more concerned about your finding your place in Christ himself than your place in his service. The essential thing in Christian living is not where you are going or what you are doing, but in whose strength you are living.

The conditions for fruitfulness are surprisingly simple. Trusting. Abiding. Obeying. We can overcome the many hindrances to fruitfulness – things like adversity, discouragement, devilish attacks, and fear – by letting Him do the work in us we cannot do ourselves. The sap of God’s Spirit gives us life in every season.

Here’s His promise about us in Isaiah 61:3-4: “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of his splendor.”

The analogy of the tree is not a perfect picture of our life in Christ. After all, we do exercise our will to do His, and our maturity in Him is related to how often we choose to obey our new nature rather than our sinful nature. Unlike a tree, we are in partnership with our Maker.

But the tree IS a beautiful picture of this reality: Through new birth we’re planted in God and we come under His loving care. If we can relax and let His Spirit flow through us on a daily basis, we’ll produce fruit and bless the world. So let’s acknowledge it’s okay to be sappy. Those who are filled with God’s Spirit will display His splendor, glory, and power, giving light and hope to the world.