Olive Trees: The Tough Cookie of Trees, part 1
- May 26
- 2 min read
Back in October 2025, during the olive harvest, we asked one of our partners in Galilee to write a devotional that would be fitting for the season. Majd, who serves at the church in Tur’an, wrote the following reflection on what the olive tree can teach us about faith and fruitfulness in Christ.
From Majd - Olive Trees: The Tough Cookie of Trees, part 1
"Olive trees hold a place of importance and reverence throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, the olive is listed among the seven fruits of the Holy Land (Deuteronomy 8:8). It is also the tree first approached by the others to be king over them, though it refuses (Judges 9:8-9). And most famously, it was an olive leaf that the dove brought back to Noah’s ark, telling him that the water had gone down (Genesis 8:11). The olive tree has been surrounded with much romanticism and mysticism over the years. To acquire olive oil from the Holy Land is seen by some as second only to finding the Holy Grail. But olive trees do not have it easy, and there’s much for us to learn from them.
1. An olive tree grown from seed often produces little or no fruit. To thrive, it must be grafted with another branch chosen for its fruitfulness. Grafting is done for a single purpose, to produce good fruit. In the same way, we must recognize that our natural selves are not enough. We need to be grafted into the life of Christ so that His nature, not ours, bears fruit through us.
2. There are over a dozen types of olive trees in the Holy Land, each for a certain use. For instance, it is unfitting to use Manzanillo olives for oil. I once watched a man bring his Manzanillo olives to the press to make oil. The owner refused! But at the end of a heated discussion he finally agreed. In the corner waited another man who brought in his Souri olives for pressing. Before the press owner moved on from the Manzanillo to the Souri, that man insisted that the owner wash the whole press system. There is a sense of pride in the various types of olives. This is not to say that one is better than the other, but that each is for a purpose. None is meatier than the Manzanillo for pickling, and no olive oil is tastier than Souri! Here lies another clear lesson for us: we are not meant to do what others are specifically gifted and called to do, nor are they meant to do what we have been specifically gifted and called to do."
May we be reminded that our Christian lives draw their strength from Christ, as branches grafted into the living root, and that our gifts, however distinct, have their place in His great harvest of loving service and gospel proclamation.
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