Weeds, weeds, weeds! They spread so easily, taking over the nice patches of soil prepared for lovely roses to populate, and greedily sucking up all the water, nutrients, and sunlight meant for your little seedlings.

I've spent plenty of time in the company of these rascals the last few days, while doing some yard work. Although it has been a frustrating to grapple with large stumps from dead bushes or prickly vines, I have loved the chance of getting to meditate on the idea of roots and what that means in our walk with Christ.
Tackling a stump is just as challenging as people say it is, even if it's not from a real tree! This stump gave me a hard time and sore back, but through that struggle, I decided I actually want to become like that stump. Not dead, brown, and ugly. of course, but stubbornly rooted in what I know to be true and irreplaceable: God's Word. The Bible is bursting with verses that give Christians and their faith roots. Here are just two:

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” --Col. 2:6-7

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” --Eph. 3:17-18

As God's dearly loved children, we are reminded to live lives that are deeply rooted in Him, His love, and His Word. Unfortunately, those are not the only roots that can grow in our lives. We can be living our lives every day, never realizing that the ways we use our time and things we entertain ourselves with can be growing some deep, strong roots into soil that is not from God's garden. It takes a great amount of work to pull those roots out, once they are discovered. Sin can settle down in the darkest, deepest corners of our hearts, and our roots into sin can reach much deeper than we think. As I hacked away at the weeds, I kept pulling out roots that far exceeded the size of the plant, much bigger and deeper than I would have guessed!

Living life each day, going about a routine schedule or even relaxing for a change, I can forget to be vigilant and careful against the attacks of the devil. Ripping out weeds by the roots made me wonder what kind of roots I have been growing and what sin I may have deep down. These roots in the wrong places can be unnoticeable for now as they covertly suck out all the nutrients I need to thrive as a child of God, but I must not wait until I am a dead stump to take care of them!

But remember, roots are not all bad! We must have strong roots in order to flourish and bear fruit. (Stay tuned for more about fruit next week!) God showed me a neat parallel between Jeremiah 17, Psalm 1, and John 15 recently.

“He will be like a tree planted by the water, 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.” --Jer. 17:7-8

This is just like Psalm 1, and linked to John 15! All three of these passages are images about being connected and living in communion with God—the abiding lifestyle—and bearing fruit as a result. To remain in Christ, the true vine, and bear fruit, we must be connected to the same roots. That is how we can bear good fruit faithfully (in God's timing).

I really like how it says in Jeremiah 17 and Psalm 1 that the tree is not afraid in the time of drought and continues to bear fruit. I think of a drought in my walk with God as a time when I do not hear Him speak or see Him working. It is easy to let my faith fail in times like that if I feel He is not near. I want to learn to trust Him and see His hand at work even in those difficult times, because that is when He really grows us!

So, I do not know where you are at in your walk with Christ right now, maybe you are feeling pretty dry or you are flourishing. Wherever you may be, I pray that this reminder of being rooted in Christ and being careful of roots into sin will be an encouragement and help to you as it was to me.