By F. D. Adkins
When my husband and I started construction on our new home, we had to clear some trees. As my husband dug out the stumps with his tractor, I was amazed at just how deep, far, and wide the roots spread beneath the ground. And I was even more amazed at the strength of the roots. I could tug, yank, twist, and fight the tiniest root with all my might, and without an ax, it would not budge or break.
In Colossians 2:6-8 (KJV), Paul writes, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
Here, we see a warning from Paul. The enemy will use the ways of the world to pull us away from Christ and make us stray. If we are not rooted in Christ, we could be swayed by wrong information or be misled by false teachings. However, if we have strong roots, the storm can encompass us, the rain can pound down on us, and the wind can beat against us, yet we will not fall.
So, how do we make sure we are rooted in Christ? Take a look at the words of Jesus in the parable about the sower and the seed. “But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Matthew 13:8 KJV). We know from the story that none of the other seeds survived. It was the seed that fell into the good ground that grew strong roots and bore magnificent fruit. So, let us nurture our faith in healthy soil. Let us have fellowship with other Christians locking shields like the Roman soldiers standing strong in battle. Let us spend time in prayer bonding with our Heavenly Father and nurturing our relationship with Him. Let us fertilize our soil by reading God’s Word daily and absorbing all of its nutrients so we can differentiate the TRUTH from false doctrine.
And then when the storm surrounds us, the rain pounds down on us, and the wind beats against us (AND IT WILL), we will not fall because our roots of faith will run deep and far and wide.
