The Rooted Life
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
—Colossians 2:6-7
Persisting in a life of faithfulness to God is hard work. Even when we have testimonies of God’s extravagant work in our lives, we can fall into complacency. Only when we constantly lay our lives down before God can we experience the life Paul is displaying in Colossians. A life deeply connected to God.
Sometimes, the enemy wages war aggressively against the body of Christ, but most often, his schemes come in tiny compromises. Instead of rapidly attempting to uproot the tree, he comes with a trowel. Bit by bit, he coaxes us to get out of the soil of the Word and the Spirit and find other sources of nourishment.
It’s usually not until we are halfway dug out of the soil that we realize we are losing the nurturing life of God’s presence. Suddenly, we are confronted with a confusing choice—finish the job and leave Christ behind or stop immediately and fill in the hole. If we aren’t ready to humbly let God plant us back in his soil, we might frantically expedite the process to root-freedom.
Paul comes in Colossians 2 to remind us that the life built on the Lord Jesus is a life of strength, growth, and overflowing thankfulness. On the contrary, a life outside of the garden of God looks like the image Paul depicts in Ephesians 4:14 NIV. “Tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”
We need a constant reminder to stay rooted in Christ. It takes active participation to continue to abide in the vine of Christ Jesus. Everywhere we look, there will be an invitation to compromise, but God supplies the strength to choose him again and again. Let’s turn again to God, stretching our roots deeper into the things of his kingdom.
God, give us a greater desire for your presence in our lives. Stir a hunger for your word and a tenderness toward your Holy Spirit. Expose every pattern in our lives that causes us to uproot the life we have in you. God, we lay those distractions, temptations, and alternative sources of nourishment down at your feet. We choose you alone as our source of life.
