Shewing how objects first receive, and then
Reflect the one true light; as the arched bow
Its coloured beauties in the day of rain;
So human truths are but creations of
Receptive minds, exhibiting with joy
The mental state and mode, by which are made
The recognitions of the one great Sire!
February Twenty-ninth.
THE TREE OF LIFE.
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life."—Rev. ii. 7.
THE promise given to him that overcometh, to eat of the Tree of Life, leads to the inquiry— What is this tree? where is it, and what is the nature of its fruits? What this tree is, can be discovered from its very name: it is THE Tree of Life, not a tree of life, as if there were more trees of life than one. If it be the life-imparting tree, it must possess life itself—life underived, since no derived life can impart vitality to others. This life-tree, then, is the faithful emblem of the Lord Jesus, for in "Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John i. 4.) Yes! Jesus Christ, the True God and Eternal Life, is, and must be, the Tree of Life; and as He is the Creator and Producer of all things, so we derive from Him our daily bread, yea, all the sustenance we require both for body and soul. All of love, purity, holiness, and every good to nourish the soul, we have from Him, and these are the precious fruits of the Tree of Life. Hence Jesus calls himself Living Bread, and says, "He that eateth Me, even he shall live by me." (John vi. 57.) To the question, Where is this tree? we have an answer in Rev. xxii. 2, where
