Those of us who enjoy roasted carrots sprinkled with sea salt can appreciate that these are simply roots. Otherwise, we don’t think much about roots. They are underground, out of sight. We see the obvious but not always what’s behind the scenes.
A friend had her mind rooted in the underground when she made it her mission to rid her yard of a crepe myrtle stump – roots included. Being in her upper seventies didn’t deter her from pulling it all up, even the root ball – a stubborn, gnarly thing clutching to the soil with all its might.
Roots give plants stability and are the vehicles which move minerals and water into the plant to keep it alive. Roots are usually good things. The Bible also talks about bad roots, like the root of bitterness or plants whose roots don’t nourish them or enable them to bear fruit. If the Lord points to something sinful in our lives, we need to be as diligent as my friend to dig it out (confess and repent) so that “the axe is laid unto the root” (Matthew3:10.)
Sometimes roots are expansive. Scientists say a tree’s roots are two to three times as wide as a canopy or even as wide as the tree is tall. It might take some work and lots of prayer, but we can be that plant referenced in Colossians 2: 6 -7 “…rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Good roots make good fruits.
~Christ Fellowship
Nan Robertson