The Tree Whisperer 树语者

[Dexu Xia]

The Tree Whisperer

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.Psalm 1:3

Some call him the “tree whisperer.” Tony Rinaudo is, in fact, World Vision Australia’s tree maker. He’s a missionary and agronomist engaged in a thirty-year effort to share Jesus by combating deforestation across Africa’s Sahel, south of the Sahara.

Realizing stunted “shrubs” were actually dormant trees, Rinaudo started pruning, tending, and watering them. His work inspired hundreds of thousands of farmers to save their failing farms by restoring nearby forests, reversing soil erosion. Farmers in Niger, for example, have doubled their crops and their income, providing food for an additional 2.5 million people per year.

In John 15, Jesus, the creator of agriculture, referred to similar farming tactics when He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (vv. 1–2).

Without the daily tending of God, our souls grow barren and dry. When we delight in His law, however, meditating on it day and night, we are “like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3). Our leaves will “not wither” and “whatever [we] do prospers” (v. 3). Pruned and planted in Him, we’re evergreen—revived and thriving

Where and how do you sense your soul being tended by God? What do you do to “delight” in Scripture?

O Gardener God, I yield my stunted places to Your pruning and watering, surrendering my dry places to grow green and revived in You.

树语者

他要像一棵树栽在溪水旁，按时候结果子。—诗篇1篇3节

    有人将托尼 · 里努多（Tony Rinaudo）称为“树语者”，其实他是澳洲世界展望会（World Vision）的植树者。身为基督福音的宣教士、农学家，里努多投入三十年的努力，在非洲撒哈拉以南的萨赫勒区域，防止森林滥伐，藉此传扬耶稣的福音。

    里努多知道生长不良的灌木实际上是进入睡眠状态，因此他开始修剪、照料和浇灌这些树。他的工作启发了成千上万的农民，藉着重新修复他们附近的森林，改善土壤侵蚀的情况，拯救了他们日益枯竭的农田。例如尼日利亚的农民们就因此受益，农作物和收入翻了一倍，现在，每年由尼日利亚的农民提供食物的人口，增加了250万。

    在约翰福音15章，那位农业的创造者耶稣也指出一个类似的农业策略，祂说：“我是真葡萄树，我父是栽培的人。凡属我不结果子的枝子，祂就剪去；凡结果子的，祂就修理干净，使枝子结果子更多。”（1-2节）

    若缺乏每日照料我们的心灵，我们里面的生命就会贫瘠枯干。相反地，我们若喜爱神的律法且日夜思想，就会“像一棵树栽在溪水旁，……叶子也不枯干”，凡我们所做的尽都顺利（诗篇1篇3节）。在上帝里面扎根，蒙祂的修剪，我们就能复甦和茂盛，常保青绿！

    你在哪方面正受到上帝的修剪和浇灌？你怎么知道呢？你要怎么做，才会喜爱上帝的话语呢？

    上帝啊，祢是栽种的园丁，我每天都渴慕祢来灌溉修剪，求祢使我干枯的枝子，能在祢里面变得青翠繁茂。