Beneath The Roses
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http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Heavenly Connection
Beneath The Roses
by Tim Hall
When it comes to rose-gardening, I'm obviously a
novice. It's usually the bush and the blossoms
that get my attention, for I know how much my wife
and I love freshly cut roses. On this occasion,
though, my focus was on their roots. These plants
needed a new location, and my job was to carefully
dig them up and move them. The bush I had planted
a year ago was no problem; it was the older bushes
that challenged me. Their roots were deep into the
ground.
The Bible uses the image of roots. As I
occasionally work with plants, both vegetable and
ornamental, my appreciation for roots deepens. The
benefits of well-developed roots to a plant are
significant. The same is true for spiritual lives.
Properly-developed roots are the plant's assurance
of water, even in times of drought. Jeremiah used
this image in Jeremiah 17:7,8: "Blessed is the man
who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the
Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the
waters, which spreads out its roots by the river,
and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf
will be green, and will not be anxious in the year
of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit"
(NKJV). "The year of drought" inevitably comes
into every life. Our task is to be prepared for
such times. Those who take the time to nourish
their roots will find the water that is scarce to
others. Shallow-rooted plants wither and die (see
also Matthew 13:20,21).
A second reason for developing our roots is found
in Colossians 2:6,7: "As you therefore have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
rooted and built up in Him and established in the
faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it
with thanksgiving." Paul's thought is not about
drought or moisture; he spoke of the need to be
established. That fact was impressed on me as I
transplanted the rose bushes. The year-old bush
was easily removed from its spot; the older bushes
clung more tenaciously to their positions.
Christians who have dedicated themselves to
maturing in the faith will not easily be moved
from where the Lord plants them.
Roots are therefore vital to a plant. But how does
one develop spiritual roots?
The first psalm holds the key to growing more
stable in our faith. After warning against evil
pursuits, the writer pronounced this blessing:
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in
His law he meditates day and night. He shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf
also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall
prosper" (Psalm 1:2,3). Here is a tree that is
fruitful because it found the moisture it needed
and because it was not moved by the storm. Here is
a picture of what God expects of His people.
Reading and studying our Bibles – it's not a novel
or exotic idea. But David identified it as the key
to proper development of spiritual roots. In those
quiet moments of reading God's word, development
is taking place. It can't be seen, and it's not as
exciting as cutting and displaying prize-winning
roses. But without those roots, there will be no
blooms.
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