The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears
the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they
last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away. Matthew 13:21
I have never had the green thumb that my mother did, but I
have tried to grow things. For a long time I wanted an aloe vera plant. I
finally had one flourishing and was glad to have it for burns and skin
problems. One day my child came in and said, ‘’Look, mama! This is what’s under
the dirt!” I looked up and he was holding the plant by the leaves with the
roots sticking up. I agreed that it was very cool and tried to show him how to
replant it, but it never did flourish again. Without its roots being firmly
planted it would not get the nutrients it needed and it was not anchored.
Roots, whether they are long and straight or fibrous and branching are what
make it possible for the plants to survive and to grow. Roots are just as vital in our spiritual lives as they are in the natural world. Sometimes there are times when God’s grace and blessing pours down on us like a summer shower and other times when we get a slow steady flow of his presence and love. I know that many of you are going through dry, difficult times, though. Whether it is illness, grief of financial woes, it is easy to feel that God has forgotten about our troubles and that no one else cares. The truth is that as hard as we try as human beings we will let each other down. When that happens we need to have our faith deeply rooted so we can survive and eventually thrive again.
God uses this picture of plants, vines and roots many times
because it gives us a illustration. For example, in Ephesians 3 we read “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted
and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy
people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and
to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God.” In Colossians 2;6-7 Paul says, “So
then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in
him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness.” He also warns us about thing that can take
root like weeds, such as the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10) and bitterness. (Hebrews
12:15). I have to keep that one beat down because it will grow like wild fire.
As we watch the coming of winter (We skipped fall here in
West Texas this year) we see the plants turn brown and bare. They are still
alive though and the roots continue to provide what they need. Let’s remember
that in our lives we need roots, too. Be rooted in love, be rooted in Christ
and abide in Him as the vine. (John 15) Spring will come again. More
importantly, God will come again, maybe sooner that we expect. Even so, come
Lord Jesus. 