There’s a tree on the first and last pages of the Bible. Every major character in the Bible is associated with a tree. Trees are the most-mentioned living things in Scripture other than God and people. And a tree was not only the only thing Jesus ever harmed, but the only thing that could harm Him.

Former emergency room doctor Matthew Sleeth chronicles this pattern of trees in Scripture in his outstanding book Reforesting Faith. He joins Shane Morris on the Colson Center’s Upstream Podcast to make the case that understanding and appreciating trees in God’s “book of nature” helps us better understand His book of Scripture.

But seeing the Bible through the trees also motivates us to be better stewards of creation. When God made humanity, He placed us in a garden and told us to tend it. That command was never revoked. Which means part of how we love God and our neighbor is to keep the world filled—and further fill it—with trees.