Faith "Firmly Rooted"???
10/10/2009 | Author: RCW
What's with the title, huh?


I guess I have never quite explained how I selected the title for this blog exactly, have I? The concept of being "rooted" or "planted" or "having roots" are all pretty common in Biblical imagery. Certain passages should hopefully leap to your mind.

Psalm 1 may very well be my own personal favorite. Below is Psalm 1:1-4 :

    How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners,
    Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

    But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    And in His law he meditates day and night.

    He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
    Which yields its fruit in its season
    And its leaf does not wither;
    And in whatever he does, he prospers.

    The wicked are not so,
    But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.


Another example that will probably come to mind comes from Paul's prayer for the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 3:14-19

    For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.


Another passage from Paul that comes to mind is Colossians 2:5-7, where Paul urges the Colossians:

    For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
    Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.


Finally, there is the parable from Jesus about the sower and the soils in Matthew 13. Jesus explains the parable of the sower for his disciples in Mt. 13:19-23:

    When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom the seed was sown beside the road.

    The one on whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.....

    And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

    And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.




So how about it? Are you rooted in Christ? Are you un-budged by the sways of this world? Are your feet planted in the good soil? Are you anchored to the word of God? Are you hearing the word AND doing it? If not, it's time to get YOUR faith firmly rooted.


Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I pray that you would ground me even now in your word. I repent for times I have strayed from obeying you and seeking you. I pray that there would be no room for wavering or falling away from what you have taught me. May you keep my feet planted and my faith on solid ground. Help me remain in you, Jesus. Amen.


-RCW
This entry was posted on 10/10/2009 and is filed under , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 comments:

On October 10, 2009 at 2:35 PM , Unknown said...

My prayer too!