Saturday, October 14, 2006

Get Rooted

To me, one of the most beautiful things to see is a mountain side covered with trees. It's as if the mountain comes alive as the squilions of trees sway back and forth synchronized with the movement of the wind. Even more amazing is the way God has designed trees to stand as tall as they do without falling over. A tree's roots attach to the soil beneath and give the tree nutrients and stability. Not only that, but a tree's roots prevent erosion by stabilizing the soil around them and also improve the quality of water by slowing and filtering rain.

Collosians 2:6-7 says, "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." As Christians, the only reason why we are able to stand tall in God's presence is because of our decision to root ourselves in Christ. Through this decision we have been given the amazing opportunity of beautifully showing the world God's gift of His grace.

But what does it mean to be rooted in Christ? When storms come and go in our lives, if we are rooted in Christ, we will filter all that we experience through "the truth [we] were taught" by Him and allow Him to produce in us what it is He wants. There is no doubt that, because we live in a fallen world, we will face situations that will challenge our allegiance to Christ on a day to day basis. However, since Christ is our foundation, our "faith will grow strong" and we will be able to pull all spiritual nutrients that we will ever need from Him. He will provide the stability we need in order to face anything that comes our way and nothing will ever be able to snatch us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).

Growing our roots in Christ isn't only a benefit for us, it also benefits those who have yet to come to Him. In a world filled with evil "erosion", we should be a constant erosion deterrent for those around us. Others should be able to tell that we are rooted in Christ by the way we act and talk. The less erosion those around us experience, the more likely they are going to be able to see the eternal benefits of rooting their lives in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have your rooted your life in Christ? If so, are you stopping the evil erosion that plagues the world today? As Christians, we need to constantly spread our roots in Christ and allow the spiritual nutrients we receive from Him to cause an "overflow [of] thankfulness" in our lives. When we do, others will see the beauty of God's grace and they will be spurred on to check out the soil that only He can provide. As you go throughout your day, remind yourself that you are secure in Christ when He is your foundation and allow yourself to be moved by His will. Because one of the most beautiful things to God is seeing His "trees" swaying back and forth with the movement of the will of His Son.

This post was for my boy Josh.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Collin

Great Post! It looks like I owe you some information. We will have to get together sometime this week.

-Josh

Anonymous said...

This is Valeie Lair once again. What a great insightfull analogy that only the Holy Spirit can reveal.

Anonymous said...

Collin,
Thank you for this great visual illustration of being "rooted in Christ." I am going to keep this picture in my mind. It will be a reminder card for the days I miss spending time with God.

Valerie Lair

HJ said...

This is great; have often been confused as to what it means to be rooted in Christ and to have my foundations built on Him; although I understood it vaguely, I never quite grasped the practical applications. Until now. Thanks so much; this post was a real blessing to me.
Han