{"id":23526,"date":"2026-03-11T14:48:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:16:27","slug":"4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trees make life possible. They provide shade, beauty and numerous other gifts\u2014from the tires on our cars to the aspirin in our medicine cabinets. But beyond meeting physical needs, trees can also teach spiritual lessons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other than people, trees are mentioned more than any other creation in the Bible. There is a tree on the first page of Genesis and on the last page of Revelation. The first Psalm exhorts believers to be like a tree. Every major character and every major theological event has a tree marking the spot. Indeed, Adam\u2019s first instructions were to \u201cdress and keep\u201d (Genesis 2:15 KJV) the trees in Eden.<\/p>\n

Here are four important spiritual lessons<\/a> we can learn from the trees God planted in Scripture.<\/p>\n

Turn toward the Light <\/strong><\/h4>\n

One of the clearest memories I have of kindergarten is planting seeds in two pots. One was placed on the window sill; the other was placed in a dark closet. Every day we examined both of the pots. For several weeks, nothing happened. Then, the seeds sprouted.<\/p>\n

At first, both plants looked the same. Then they began to diverge. The plant on the window sill began turning its leaves toward the sun. The one in the closet became pale, thin, and grew in a confused manner. Trees grow toward light in a process called phototropism, from the Greek phos<\/em> (light) and tropos<\/em> (turning).<\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cI am the light of the world.\u201d (John 8:12). A tree naturally seeks light. We can follow their example and seek the Light of the world.<\/p>\n

Put down roots<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Trees need water as much as they need light. The first Psalm is a description of what Godly women and men look like. They are like \u201ctrees planted by rivers of water\u201d and they \u201cmeditate\u201d on God\u2019s law day and night\u2014i.e., they are thinking about what Bible reveals about God\u2019s will and plan for our lives. In order to do this, we need to study the Word of God\u2014His Bible. <\/p>\n

The deeper our \u201croots\u201d go in the Bible, the more we\u2019re able to withstand the trials, troubles, and other droughts that come our way. Healthy, mature trees have roots that travel in all directions seeking water and nutrients.<\/p>\n

Before Bibles came in book form, they were attached to scrolls. The handles of these Biblical scrolls were called the etz hayim, <\/em>Hebrew for tree of life. <\/em>Proverb 3:18 says that the Bible\u2019s wisdom is a tree of life to those who take ahold of it, and that happiness results from knowing this life-giving book.<\/p>\n

Bring forth fruit<\/strong><\/h4>\n

What good would an apple tree be if it never produced any apples? Likewise, our lives should produce meaningful fruit. It\u2019s easy to look<\/em> like a fruit tree, but Jesus said that we\u2019d be known<\/em> by the fruit we produce (Matt 7:16-20).<\/p>\n

We should not only produce outward fruit\u2014but inward. What is inner fruit? It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our mind and soul to make us into the image of Christ. Paul the Apostle described the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians, \u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.\u201d (Gal 5:22-23). In fact, Jesus chose you for the very purpose of bearing fruit (John 15:16). <\/p>\n

Think long term <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Human lives are short. Not so for trees. There are trees alive today<\/a> that were alive in the time of Moses. God put the notion of living on a vast time scale in our hearts (Eccl 3:11).<\/p>\n

How many times do we make decisions based upon short-term gain? What would the world look like if the first thing we thought about were our roles as stewards, responsible for the coming generations?<\/p>\n

According to the book of Revelation, trees have a place in heaven as well. Revelation 22 describes the tree of life, saying, \u201cthe leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.\u201d Trees remind us that life is much bigger than our present moment. Their deep roots and sprawling branches call us to look to heaven and eternity.<\/p>\n

Matthew Sleeth, MD, is a speaker, author, and executive director of Blessed Earth, an organization promoting faithful stewardship of all creation. His most recent book, Reforesting Faith: What Trees Teach Us About the Nature of God and His Love for Us<\/a> (WaterBrook), was released in April 2019.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trees make life possible. They provide shade, beauty and numerous other gifts\u2014from the tires on our cars to the aspirin in our medicine cabinets. But beyond meeting physical needs, trees can also teach spiritual lessons. Other than people, trees are mentioned more than any other creation in the Bible. There is a tree on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396],"tags":[15,16,248],"ppma_author":[691,692],"class_list":["post-23526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deepen-your-faith","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-scripture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trees make life possible. They provide shade, beauty and numerous other gifts\u2014from the tires on our cars to the aspirin in our medicine cabinets. But beyond meeting physical needs, trees can also teach spiritual lessons. Other than people, trees are mentioned more than any other creation in the Bible. There is a tree on the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Guideposts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T14:48:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T06:16:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/articles.guideposts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tree-getty-cropped-1-1024x576.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Sleeth, MD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Neeraj Rai\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be\"},\"headline\":\"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T14:48:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T06:16:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":743,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Faith\",\"God\",\"Scripture\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Deepen Your Faith\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/\",\"name\":\"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible - Guideposts Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T14:48:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T06:16:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg\",\"width\":1540,\"height\":866},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prayer\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Bible Resources\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Deepen Your Faith\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/prayer\\\/bible-resources\\\/deepen-your-faith\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"description\":\"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"caption\":\"Guideposts Articles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be\",\"name\":\"Neeraj Rai\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=gc7d9b87677b7a32d038be4d79f46df21\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Neeraj Rai\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/neeraj\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible - Guideposts Articles","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible","og_description":"Trees make life possible. They provide shade, beauty and numerous other gifts\u2014from the tires on our cars to the aspirin in our medicine cabinets. But beyond meeting physical needs, trees can also teach spiritual lessons. Other than people, trees are mentioned more than any other creation in the Bible. There is a tree on the […]","og_url":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/","og_site_name":"Guideposts Articles","article_published_time":"2026-03-11T14:48:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-10T06:16:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"http:\/\/articles.guideposts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tree-getty-cropped-1-1024x576.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matthew Sleeth, MD","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/"},"author":{"name":"Neeraj Rai","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be"},"headline":"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible","datePublished":"2026-03-11T14:48:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T06:16:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/"},"wordCount":743,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg","keywords":["Faith","God","Scripture"],"articleSection":["Deepen Your Faith"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/","url":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/","name":"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible - Guideposts Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-11T14:48:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T06:16:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tree-getty-cropped-1.jpg","width":1540,"height":866},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/4-important-spiritual-lessons-from-trees-in-the-bible\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prayer","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Bible Resources","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Deepen Your Faith","item":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/bible-resources\/deepen-your-faith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"4 Important Spiritual Lessons from Trees in the Bible"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","name":"Guideposts Articles","description":"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization","name":"Guideposts Articles","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","caption":"Guideposts Articles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be","name":"Neeraj Rai","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=gc7d9b87677b7a32d038be4d79f46df21","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","caption":"Neeraj Rai"},"url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/author\/neeraj\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":691,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"matthew-sleeth","display_name":"Matthew Sleeth","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":692,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"md","display_name":"MD","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23526"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=23526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}