Rooted and Grounded
Autumn–and with it comes the time to prepare gardens for winter. As we have several flower beds, it usually takes three or four days to pull out the annuals, the weeds and the dahlia tubers. Wanting to take advantage of the warmth of Indian summer, my husband and I set to work last weekend. In one bed ,weeds had almost taken over. You know, the kind that camouflage as a pretty vine but in truth, set down roots as they travel, wrapping themselves around the plants. Try as I might, I could not get to the base of the stubborn roots. Deep down they went, insuring a new crop in the spring.
As I worked, this scripture came to mind: ‘Let your roots go down into Him (Jesus Christ) and draw up nourishment from Him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.’ (Colossians 2:7)
Ephesians 3:17 says: ‘May your roots go down deep into God’s marvelous
love.’
Roots are the most important part of the plant. Roots secure and establish it in the ground, take nourishment from the soil, feed the plant which in turn produces foliage, flowers and fruit. Without this firm foundation, plants wither and die. Like plants, we too need a firm foundation. Jesus is the rock on which we build our faith. He tells us He is the vine and we are the branches, we have been grafted into the plant as God’s adopted children and we have to remember ‘we are just a branch, not the root.’ (Romans 11:18)
We receive nourishment from Jesus through the Holy Spirit as we read and study the Bible. Listening to God’s word, prayer and fellowship with other believers, all feed the seed of faith. In the parable of the farmer, Jesus said, “the seed planted on good ground is the person who hears and understands the word. This type produces crops – one hundred, sixty or thirty times as much as was planted.’ The more time we spend with the Lord, the deeper our roots go. All the strong winds and storms of life cannot shake our faith, but it grows even stronger through adversity. As time passes, our roots become as the roots of those I was trying to remove from my garden – stubborn, strong and steadfast.
Rooted and grounded in Jesus, we can experience life to the fullest.
‘Then your face will brighten in innocence
You will be secure and free of fear…
You will have courage and hope
You will be protected and rest in safety
You will lie down unafraid
Many will look to you for help…’ (Job 11:15,18,19)
…..Pat Earl (brian.earl@sympatico.ca) by way of Eternal Ink (eternal_ink@associate.com) by way of “Christian Voices” (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)
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