[Darris McNeely] In the town where I grew up, there is this huge oak tree that is over 200 years old. It's right on the banks of the Mississippi River. In fact, Lewis and Clark, the famous American explorers stopped in the shadow of that oak tree when it was probably not much more than just a small tree, maybe even a sapling at the time before they actually began their journey across the United States. They stopped off there. That tree planted more than 200 years ago, witnessing if you will, a famous two-some, Lewis and Clark, American explorers going up the Mississippi River is still there. Still in one sense, bearing witness. Something that is planted can endure for a long time. It can bear a lot of fruit. The Bible talks a lot about planting.

The last of the Beatitudes of the Book of Revelation, the seventh one is found in Revelation 22:14. And in it it refers to a tree. Let's look at that here as we look at the blessing, the last one. "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city." Here in the last few verses of the Bible, the book of Revelation, God refers us back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and that time in the Garden in Eden, when there were two trees, and He references the tree of life. Not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the tree of life. And blessed is that person who keeps the commandments of God. He has the right to that tree of life.

God planted that tree of life which is a symbol of His way, His truth, His commandments, which He references here. As we do the commandments, keep them. Worship God through this way of life revealed by His holy, righteous and spiritual law, the commandments of God, then we begin to take of that tree of life that was planted, in one sense, this spiritual way, the spiritual knowledge, and understanding that we have and available to us and it begins to feed us, it begins to bear witness to us. Kind of like that tree that I referred too, the tree back in my hometown over 200 years old. It's seen a lot of people come and go. Lewis and Clark, to even me, who walked by it when I was a kid. People are still seeing it.

As we take of the tree of life, as we keep the commandments of God and take of that tree of life God is planting in our life something that will endure not just in this physical world but for all eternity. Seven blessings out of the Book of Revelation, you thought it was all just about prophecy and fantastic images, it's more than that. It's a way of life. And it's a way of life that begins in Genesis by making the right choice to worship God, to take of the tree of life, His spirit, drinking in of that and living a quality productive life.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.