Rooted in…
Today I began a focus on two words that are very much linked together, “Root and Reach”. For the next month I am going to be talking a lot about trees. I don’t particular fancy myself a “tree enthusiast”. If you showed me pictures of 10 trees I could probably only identify one or two of them, assuming that one of them is a pine tree…I might also be able to pick out a white birch tree…but that’s about it. However, the Bible uses the metaphor of a tree in describing a follower of God so I figure it’s OK for me to use it.
For two weeks I am going to be look at the idea of the “roots” of the tree. As I understand it, the roots have two primary functions, to stabilize the tree and to provide food for the tree. I think that our “spiritual roots” have the same function. Over the next two weeks we are going to talk about this. Here is the text I plan to use and discuss from Ephesians 3:14-19: 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The one thing I’d like to talk briefly about today is the kind of soil that our roots are “into”. For a tree, I know that the type of soil is important. The soil needs to have the right kind of nutrients and moisture for the tree to grow strong. I think the same is true for each of us. The kind of soil that we “grow” in is very important. In the passage above, it is clear that the soil being talked about is the love of God; the power of God; the person of God. We will talk more about this in coming days but let me just simply ask you, what kind of soil are you spending your life being rooted in? Career? Money? Fame? None of these soils will root you like God.