“And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.” (Ezekiel 47:12 KJV)
The leaves… A similar verse to this is found in Revelation 22:2. Is it not interesting that the leaves are for medicine or healing? Most people in the pharmaceutical business know this and have for the longest time. Yet more than the countless drugs, herbs, and cure-alls that started out as leaves, have you noticed what function for the tree that the leaves serve? They collect the light. We give it the long term, photosynthesis, but essentially the leaves have to be in a position to collect light. They need the spots furthest up and furthest out to be effective. It sounds alot like us as Christians. We need to spread out and be able to receive God’s direction individually. The leaves are connected in surrender to the tree by the smallest branches. We receive our nourishment through the humblest and smallest veins. We individually need to know both the warmth and heat of God’s reality. In our reaching upward and outward to Him, we also provide shade to others who need that rest. We are the first to feel the slightest rustle of the Spririt’s breeze and be a witness of that movement to anyone who is watching. Each leaf receives it’s water supply from a common source with all the other leaves on the tree yet the veins never pass through one leaf to get to another. While the fruit and the leaves have different purposes; they are always found together. In the autumn when the leaves fall the leaves replenish the soil with much needed nutrients and cover the ground with beauty.
You will find that the best healing medicine is surrendering to God and simply being what He made you to be rather than trying to manage to become what you think you ought to be. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 KJV) Is it any wonder that it should be His elders that He should have you call together for healing?
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:14-15 KJV)