Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Putting Down Deep Roots

     My father was a farmer, so I grew up hearing about things like plowing the field, disking and fitting the field and cultivating.  Dad would explain to me that the soil needed to be aerated so the plants could grow. He had to add fertilizer and rotate his crops in order to keep the fields productive.  It was a lot of work and effort, but it paid off every year.  He used to get a magazine called "Successful Farming" and believe me...my father was a successful farmer.
     In our Christian walk, we also need to be aerating the soil of our lives and pulling out the weeds on a daily basis.  It's so easy to get stuck in a rut.  Sometimes, we need to be fertilized with the Word and then, pruned by it so we can grow more successfully ourselves.
     Paul's letter to the believers in Ephesus emphasizes the need for a solid root system.  "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:14-19).  This passages touches my heart that Paul not only prayed for the believers in Ephesus but for us as well.  Paul asked God, in this passage, that He would strengthen our inner man for that is exactly where Satan will try to attack.
     One of the key ways we can be deeply rooted is through the Word of God.  Within the pages of this book we discover the character of God and who we are in relationship to Him.  We learn about our great salvation and the doctrines of our faith.  To think that our Creator has provided for us all we need for life and godliness is a great blessing!  We cannot begin to love God or fully understand the fullness of His Son's sacrifice for us unless we fill our minds with His thoughts as recorded in the Bible.  This is the essence of what Paul was praying for us.
     Like a farmer, the Holy Spirit that indwells us aerates our soil by applying the Word of God and loosening the hold of false beliefs.  He cultivates our hearts so the Word of Christ may penetrate it into the deep places.  He also pulls out the weeds of sin that crop up from day to day.  His ministry in our lives brings a crop of grace.  Our part is to yield daily our hearts to God so that the Spirit is free to do His work in conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ.  Along with Paul, our daily prayer needs to be that we may be rooted and grounded in God's Word so we may experience the love of God and bring Him glory.  Selah!


I welcome your comments here.  Please feel free to leave your insights and words of encouragement.

4 comments:

Patricia said...

Lovely photos and thoughts, Barbara.

Petra said...

Your thoughts made me think of Philippians 2:13
"For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
beautiful photos too!

A View From Serenity Acres said...

Thank you Pat. I appreciate your kind words about the photos especially since yours are so beautiful. I have been working hard with my camera...catching the beauty God shows to me. As I look at nature, I cannot help but think of my dad. He loved the farm he tended and all of nature.

A View From Serenity Acres said...

Petra...isn't it wonderful that God is at work in us daily, round the clock to make us like His Son Jesus. It is a wondrous thing when we think about it. That He has chosen us before the foundation of the world to pour out His love on us. Thank you as always for stopping by and for your blog as well!