Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him
and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Paul's letter to the Colossians, 2: 6-7
We have some bushes in our back yard that have been cut down to the root. It's an eye sore, really, because everything was removed except for the roots. As we walked around the yard surveying everything Saturday night, Jeremy commented on the ugliness of this root-remnant-mess. In good husband fashion, he pledged to remove the roots and dig down deep to get rid of the eye sore, if I wanted him too.
Roots can run deep, if a plant or tree has been around for a long time. They are shallow if just planted.
This morning while reading in Colossians I read this verse and remembered the tree I had scribbled beside this verse in the Bible from seminary. Lately, I have been sensing the Lord calling me to a different, deeper walk with Him. I'm not a feel-y Baptist, but I know He has been pushing me toward this for quite some time. For once, this is freeing because I don't have to have the answers, and I don't have the answers. I'm blindly putting it out there that I will walk with Him. I have struggled off and on for years with general doubts and anxiousness about my faith, so a deeper walk it is.
Paul reminds me here that just as received Christ at the age of ten in June 1994, I should continue to walk in that faith. That young child-like faith that knew Christ to be her Savior. As we/I walk with Him, those roots sink deeper and deeper into the firm foundation that is our Rock, Christ. When our roots run deep, those fears and doubts dissipate. We stand more confident. We are ready for battle.
This verse has brought great encouragement to me today. I hope it does for you as well. In the closing portion of this verse Paul reminds us to abound in thanksgiving. Our hearts are not naturally bent toward thanksgiving -- think about that for a moment. But in fighting to walk in faith, we have to be thankful and rely on the goodness that comes from our Father through Christ.
Rooted and thankful.
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