A Mighty Tree for the Lord

This morning in my devotional reading I had this verse:

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 2:7)

It pierced my heart… was I “overflowing with thankfulness”? Was my faith strong in the truth I had been taught?
Strong in the truth… grounded…
In order to be grounded… we need to be rooted….
In order to have roots… we need to be consistently fed…

It was a light bulb moment for me! In order to grow strong, like a mighty oak that can’t be moved or swayed.. I need to make sure my roots are firmly planted. That they have spread out so deep and so wide that when the storms hit me… I hold firm.

In order to have roots that strong, I need to be fed not only good food (the Word) but fed consistently.  When I dig into the Word for days.. then don’t for weeks – I can hardly expect to be able to handle the storms of life.

And my friend, the storms will come at you! It isn’t a matter of if they will come – it is when they will come.

Thinking of roots; we know the root system is critical.

Roots:

~ are the plants way of gaining nutrients and water out of the soil – used for growth

~ spread out, wrap around and hold on to the soil – used for stability and strength

Without roots, a plant can’t remain strong or hold up in times of trouble (lack of rain/too much rain)

The same foundation can be said for us. Our roots (faith) need to go deep in to the Word. It is through the Word that we get spiritually fed and strengthened. It is this strength that grounds us and allows us to remain faithful in times of trouble.

I always thought that as my faith grew, my roots would get stronger. I believe that is backwards. As our roots get stronger/deeper in the truth (Word), our faith grows stronger. And with stronger faith, we see the storms and know that we are not alone – we grow a thankful heart.

Another way to look at it is in Ephesians where Paul points out that Christ will live in your heart through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love. (3:17)

So we need roots to have faith.

Jeremiah 17:8 is a favorite verse: They will be like trees planted by the streams, whose roots reach down to the water. They won’t fear drought when it comes; their leaves will remain green. They won’t be stressed in the time of drought or fail to bear fruit.

Oh I want to be a mighty tree for the Lord. I don’t want to be shifted or moved when the storms rage. I want to go to Him first – not when I am at the end of my rope.

The answer seems pretty clear. If you want your faith to grow – you have to feed the roots. And by feeding the roots – your faith will grow strong.