Rooted

Our family loves nature. When we lived in Maine our house was adjacent to a trail system. Most days you could find us out walking and exploring. These days, we walk out our door and nature abounds.

I’m astonished and captured by the artistry and beauty God’s created for us in this world. The way the bark on a tree grows, the pattern in a frozen stream, the formation of a rock my kids have gifted me.

Recently its trees that catch my eye. Walking along our road, or through the woods, I’m amazed at all the fallen trees. I understand the small ones, but it’s always the big ones that get me. I always wonder, “what happened to that one?”

Why do some trees stand the test of time, they’re hundreds of years old, while others rot, or simply fall over. As I’ve been pondering this question, “it’s their roots” is what keeps coming to me.

One of my favorite passages is Jeremiah 17:7-8. It says, “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the stream that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

In Isaiah 61:3 it says, “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

But how do we become Oaks of Righteousness, with our roots planted by a stream? This morning I read Colossians 2:7, “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.”

It reminded me of what I read about Noah last week. The Bible says he was a righteous man. That he walked with God. Then I remembered something from Genesis 4. After Cain killed Abel, God banished him from the land. Cain said this, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence.” In verse 16 it says, “So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence.”

When I first moved to New England and people found out I went to church, they would say, “Oh, so you’re religious?” It always made me cringe a little. At the time, I always said yes, but now I understand how skewed that perception is.

Cain and Noah walked and talked with God. They were in his presence! That’s personal. Being rooted is about relationship, not religion. Religion is going to church and following a book of rules in hopes of getting into heaven. Relationship is reading his word and letting God speak to your soul, so he can change and shape you to be more like him.

In Matthew 7:21-23 it says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.” I never knew you…

John 14: 2-4 says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (vs.6). If a stranger showed up at your home and knocked on your door, would you let them in?

There was this one fallen tree along the trail that our kids loved to play on. I always stood in wonder as I looked at it. It was huge, but it wasn’t the length of the trunk that intrigued me. It was the root system. It was massive. Nathan could have put me on his shoulders, and it would have still been taller than us. It was probably two to three adults wide.

I’ve been thinking about that tree a lot the past few days. Looks can be deceiving. From the outside that tree looked healthy. It was tall with lush leaves, but all it took was one storm with the wind blowing just right, and it came tumbling down. Although the breadth of its root system was wide, the roots were shallow.

It grieves my spirit that there will be people who come face to face with Jesus and he'll say, "I never knew you. Away from me." Some may even go to church. But were they just like that tree along the trail, with shallow roots?

He wants to know us friends. It's not religion he desires. It's relationship.

Revelation 3:20 says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." He's talking about our hearts. Do you hear him knocking? Have you let him in?

He wants to meet with us, walk with us, and transform us.

Psalm 34:5 “Those who look to him are radiant”.

Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

John 15:1-8

 I’ll Be Ready | Official Lyric Video | Tiffany Hudson