roots....

Roots. They hold the key to life....for a tree especially. They seek out water to nourish the branches which produce fruit in due season.

A tree planted by the river is usually strong and productive. The leaves are lush as the roots reach deeply to the life-giving waters below, soaking up as much as the roots will allow.

I desire to be like a tree. I desire my roots to go deeply into Christ, the Living Water so that I too, will produce fruitfulness - those things in my life that are honorable and good and true. Lots of times my roots are shallow, they scurry along the surface in search of something else which is never found. I become parched and wither from lack of moisture. Then there are times when my roots strengthen as they sink deeply and I soak up ravenously all that the Living Water will provide.

In the Old Testament, Jeremiah 17:4-8 says:

"This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit."

Strengthen my roots, O God, so I may soak up the delights of your mercy and grace and peace. May I drink freely from your Living Waters.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord.