Can you remember a moment when you were truly happy? It probably didn’t involve things you possessed or personal accomplishments. My guess is it had to do with people you love and harmonious relationships. Genuine happiness comes only when our connections with others we care about are sound and positive.
Hearing an intriguing Christmas carol reminded me that the most important relationship contributing to our joy is our connection with God through Jesus:
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.
Christ the apple tree? What a strange metaphor. Actually, these are lines from a devotional poem written more than 250 years ago by an English Baptist minister, Richard Hutchins:
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.
I’m weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.
In 1967, Elizabeth Poston put Richard Hutchins’ poem to beautiful music, and since then, “The Apple Tree Carol” has become more and more a part of Christmas. An excellent version may be heard on Youtube here. This idea of seeing Jesus as an apple tree seems to have entered Rev. Hutchins’ mind when he was meditating on the “Tree of Life” theme that first appears in the creation account at the beginning of our Bible (Genesis 3:22) and reoccurs near the end of our Bible in John’s vision of heaven (Revelation 22:2). He may also have been thinking of the expression in the Song of Solomon, which has often been taken as an allegory of the church’s love for Christ, her Savior:
As an apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste. (Song of Solomon 2:3)
Do you want to experience more true joy this Christmas? Come pick the fruit of Jesus Christ, your apple tree.
— Pastor George Van Alstine