Wednesday, March 9, 2011

"Putting Down Roots"


"Isaiah 27:6  "The time is coming when my people will take root."

Being a backyard gardener, I've run into problems wit my plants dying on me because of root damage.  Sometimes the damage was caused by raccoons that come into my yard. They seem to love the roots that don't go too deep.  The little mask they wear hides the fact, that while cute, they can be very destructive.  They love to use their sharp claws to dig up and eat the roots of my favorite flowers.

At least you can see the raccoons coming...not so with the grub worms who invade my soil.  Everything on top looks great, the flowers are beautiful, leaves are green--then all of a sudden they die on you.  You can't se them from the outside, but these little pests are busy underneath the soil....chewing away at the roots.

Now weeds are different...you don't see them at first, but eventually they will begin to reveal themselves.  They love to wrap themselves around the roots of your plants so they can't receive any nutrients.  If you let them grow too big, they will grab ahold and squeeze until every last ounce of life is choked out of them.

We can see from the garden that roots need to be protected.  Spiritually, we need to protect our roots too.  The responsibility for how deep our roots go belongs to us.  God always provides sufficient water, but we must develop roots that go deep enough to absorb that water.  

How do we develop deep roots?  For a plant it happens naturally:  The sun dries the soil from the top down.  As the water begins to dry, the roots keep looking for it.  So they grow deeper, where the soil has not dried out yet.  The same is true for us.  When Bible reading or prayer times seems lifeless, instead of giving up, we need to press on...continuing to seek Him.  In our seeking, we must remember the Gardener.

"A Psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.  "Oh God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water."

He has promised He will always provide enough water for those that are His:  "I, the LORD, watch over it: I water it continually."  Isaiah 27:3  But we need to go looking for it.  These kind of spiritual roots don't learn to get by with less of God; they find God at a deeper level.

"May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love."  Ephesians 3:17b

Blessings,
Sharon
 


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