#52 Roots

Psalm 1:3 "He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,..."

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go kayaking by myself. In a little town called Sanford, MI there is a river that runs through the area called the Salt River. The Salt winds its way generally eastward with a slow, meandering flow that lends itself very easily to kayaking. While on my lone journey I saw about a half dozen black squirrels, about a dozen Canadian geese, and one lone doe wandering along the bank of the river. It was one of the most peaceful moments I had experienced in a long time. With pastoring two churches, being a husband and a father to three children there are seldom any lone, peaceful moments apart from my devotional time.

I was able to go on this brief excursion because of the generosity of a friend in one of our churches. We put the kayak in just around the bend from his house and I paddled my way upstream for about 30-40 minutes. It was a great time to just enjoy nature and the last vestiges of the fall color.

There was this one place along the bank where the river made a sharp turn. You could see where the water flow would obviously become quite vigorous at times because the bank was worn away from erosion. The interesting part about this particular bank was the tree that was growing right in the middle of the eroded bank. It was an old oak tree whose root system was largely exposed. This was not the first time I had seen the roots of a tree, but for some reason that day I stopped and stared at the roots of this mighty oak. I was drawn in as I looked at intricate network of wood, water, and dirt. I could not help but think about the roots of our faith.

In Psalm 1 we are reminded that a person is blessed when they do not walk in the counsel of the wicked. This is contrasted in verse 2 when the psalmist says that true delight comes when we meditate on the law of the Lord. I find it quite amazing that when we seek to be obedient to God we become more grounded. I know this to be true because verse 3 says we become like a tree that is firmly planted by the water. In essence, we when respond to the love that Jesus showers upon us by having died for us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8) then we are driven to be obedient to what He would have us to do. Jesus said that if you love Me you will keep My commandments (John 14:15), and through that obedience we will find that we too will develop a deep system of intricate roots that keep us firmly connected to Christ.

It is my challenge to each of you today that you would seek to please Jesus with the way that you live your life. I pray that you each seek to deepen your roots as you surrender completely to Jesus and live each day to serve Him.

Dear Father God,

Please give us the courage to live for Jesus even in the midst of a world that seeks to serve only self. We thank You that You have given us Your laws of happiness that we might know how to live in peace with You and one another. Please give us a deep roots as we seek to live for You daily. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.