“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7

About a month ago we had a severe monsoon-like storm that uprooted dozens (hundreds?) of trees.  These weren’t small trees but big, old trees blown over at the roots; beautiful trees no longer shooting upward towards the sky but laying on the earth (and several rooftops I might add).  What was once standing so tall, strong and beautiful was now lifeless with the leaves quickly turning from green to brown as there was no nourishment from below.  A great number of these trees caused moderate to severe damage on surrounding structures; individuals are still picking up the pieces and attempting to correct the destruction from these trees being uprooted.

Seeing all of this made me think of this verse and how we are to be deep-rooted into Jesus.  Picture that…picture your roots growing down into Him and your life being built on Him…it’s beautiful isn’t it!?  And so strong and secure and stable, no matter what monsoon-like storms rage in.

“Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.” Ephesians 3:17

It’s interesting how quickly the beautiful green leaves turned to brown once the tree was uprooted.  John 15:4 says, “Remain in Me and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.”  Just as the trees withered up quickly once they were severed at the roots, so do we if we choose to sever ourselves from Jesus.  The fruit that His Word promises won’t be there if we aren’t remaining in Him, quickly turning from a luscious green to a dreary brown.  I’ve experienced this in my own walk, when I’m not abiding in Him…the peace isn’t there, the joy is gone and other things creep in…things like anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, worry, etc.  It’s a daily (momently!) surrender to remain in Him, but in doing so, we glorify Him and reap the benefits of His goodness and grace.

Something else to think about is that most of these trees didn’t just fall and land peacefully on the ground, in most cases, they took a few things with them- another tree, fences, houses, cars, power lines, etc… When we aren’t deep-rooted into Jesus, when we uproot ourselves from the One who has saved us, it doesn’t only affect us, it affect those around us, causing damage we may never even see or notice, but it’s there.  Just believe that when you are deep-rooted into Jesus others will flourish too, it’s part of His divine plan; for those who are deep rooted to shine brightly for Him showing others the fruit of getting nourishment from Him- grace, love, joy, peace, kindness, eternity…

Have you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life?  If not, please dig deeper into His Word or contact someone who can counsel you towards a life in Christ.  If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, are your roots growing down into Him or into something or someone else?  Really spend some time thinking about what your life is built on.

Heavenly Father, that our roots would go deep into You, our Creator and Savior, the Author and Perfector of our Faith.  That we would build our lives on You and not the many distractions this world has to offer.  That the fruit You produce in us would carry over into those we love and come into contact with.  That we would glorify you in all that we do and stand firmly on You, Your promises, and who You say we are.  May we humbly surrender daily to You.  We thank you and we praise you for who You are and what You have done for us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I’ll leave you with another beautiful scripture to meditate on today…

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out it’s roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; it’s leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Just as a tree is deep-rooted into the earth but standing tall towards the heavens, may we be deep-rooted in Christ, standing tall and strong for Him. 🙂