How Deep Are Your Roots

How deep are your roots?

So, the questions that I would like to ask is, what are your roots, how were they formed? Have they grown?

Tumbleweeds only put down one root, and that root is very shallow. Tumbleweeds are easily uprooted when the wind blows. Soon the tumbleweed is blowing wherever the wind pushes it, without any sense of direction or stability.

An oak tree puts down lots of roots, and the roots go deep. Even during strong winds, oaks stand firm, because their root structure is strong and deep.

Is your spiritual life more like a tumbleweed or an oak tree?

If you only have one or two roots in your spiritual life and these roots don’t go very deep, you stand the risk of constantly being uprooted when the breeze of business and routine start to blow and the winds of suffering and tragedy take hold.

But if you have deep spiritual roots, you will find yourself standing firm no matter what comes into your life. Even though life does not hurt any less for you, and even though you still struggle with the same questions and issues everyone asks, your faith keeps you strong.

You face uncertainty with courage, suffering with hope, and tragedy with confidence because your roots go deep. There are choices we must make in life and without a secure foundation; we will be tossed around by the circumstances around us.

So, Let us get to the Root of the Matter

Root (Dictionary meaning): The part of a plant that grows downward; apart from which other things grow; cause; or source.

Root (Bible meaning): Springing up; to bring forth or produce.

Rooted (Dictionary meaning): Having taken root; fixed.

Rooted (Bible meaning): To cause to take root; firmly rooted.

we first think about tree roots, root canals (our teeth), or vegetables like turnips. The whole concept of roots is amazing! Tree roots anchor the tree in the soil, keeping it straight and stable, and absorb water from the soil. Tree roots also take nutrients and chemicals out of the soil and use them to produce what they need for the tree’s growth, development, and repair. Damaging roots on one side of a tree may cause branches to die back on that side only- or at random places throughout the crown.

There are many types of roots, tap root, heart root, flat root, shallow root, spiritual is also amazing.

I once read a story about a little girl who lived in the late 1800’s. At the age of six, a doctor was treating her inflamed eyes and accidentally blinded her. When she was eight years old, she wrote these words

“Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see. I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be. How many blessings I enjoy that other people do not? To weep and sigh because I am blind, I cannot, and I won’t.”

That same young girl grew up to become a saint of the American Church. Fanny Crosby was her name. I cannot image the difficulties that she must have faced in the time she grew up in, or the advice that she might have received, but her roots were firmly planted in the truths of God. As a result, we have songs such as “Tell Me the Story of Jesus,” “Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine,” and “He Hides My Soul.”

Read Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so but are life chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (English Standard Version)

The word planted literally means transplanted. A person whose life is rooted in God’s Word receives constant nourishment.

Bad situations do not happen all at once. They result from a series of bad choices.

We live in a time where boredom, depression, and other forms of unhappiness are rampant.

A life rooted in Jesus Christ yields something worthwhile and provides blessing and nourishment to others. Adverse conditions do not affect the fruitfulness of this person. He prospers because he follows God’s directions and warnings.

Yet a life not rooted in Jesus Christ will be followed by negative signs:

Lack of Character