Articles
Deep Roots
Deep Roots
I hate pulling these things…
Every year in the spring and summer I have a nemesis in my lawn. There are many plants I can deal with, but this one just gets to me. It is a weed I do not have a name for, but it shoots up a foot tall overnight and puts out aerial seeds that float away on the wind. Many lawns on my street are overrun with them and I think it is the worst looking of all weeds with their spindly-looking stems. I have made it a mission to pull the things as soon as I can see them, but even that does not always work, because they have a tap root that is the thickest part of the plant and will go as deep into the ground as the stem is tall. It is hard to pull and has a secret weapon against my extreme prejudice against it. It grabs so deep and strong that it will snap off right at the base of the plant, leaving the root in place to regrow all the green in a day or two leaving me frustrated.
For us, though, it is good to be rooted and strong. We grow, spiritually and the devil will go about seeing whom he may pluck out of the ground. Sometimes, he succeeds, and our roots are ripped from the spiritual earth of Christ and we are separated. Sometimes, he only wounds us, and we keep grounded to regrow our spiritual faith. Colossians 2:6-15 speaks to this:
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.”
We, like plants growing, are instructed to be rooted, and built up in Jesus. Not only growing a strong tap root, but to have many offshoots so that we might have a mighty hold upon the truth of the gospel.
The main reason is stated as well in this passage. He warns us of the diverse ways Satan might try to uproot us so that we might be cast into the fire. Philosophies, lies, traditions, and so many other things will try to weaken our foundation in Christ Jesus.
We, unlike the weed in my front lawn, have a choice in the matter. We choose to be spiritually circumcised in the watery grave of baptism, being marked as a child of God. We follow His teachings and study His Word. This gives us that firm foundation which keeps us from being plucked from the spiritual earth.
No matter what happens in our life we must keep that root strong so that, even if we are brought low when life does its best to rip us out of the dirt, we will still have that root by which we can rise again and flourish. The joy, faith, and life of the plant is not in the air, but in its root and foundation. Spiritually, for us, that is Christ.
Lance Byers
11/16/24
- Deep_Roots_11-16-24.pdf (50.16 kB)
