Connected to the Root

With the coming of spring, it was time to do some yard work at the church. It was decided to pull up some of the old landscaping and put in some new plants.

In the flower bed next to the stairs was a bush they wanted to take out. They got shovels and a long metal pry bar.

The guys worked and worked at this bush, but it was very root-bound, and the ground was hard. After a good half hour, they finally got a little piece of it out, but it was obvious that the roots were deep and went under the cement stairs.

It was hard, hot work, and it looked as though it would take another hour or better to get the roots chopped through.

Finally, we got a truck and wrapped a strap around the bush, and with one good yank, the truck pulled, and the bush was out.

Hurrah! In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1–23), we are encouraged to let our roots grow deep so that we are not easily uprooted.

Jesus wants more than anything for us to be attached to Him because He never fails and will never lead us the wrong way.

We can grow and bear fruit in Him, even when we have been wild, headstrong people. I think the analogy of the stubborn bush has two meanings for me. First, I want all the sin in my life uprooted. To do this job by myself is labor-intensive because sin’s roots are deep and stubborn —just like that old bush.

To get rid of sin, I need to allow Jesus to yank it out of my life. Sometimes, this process takes some time because the roots of sin hold on with tenacity.

But holding on to Jesus, I know He will be successful. Second, I want more than anything to be grafted into Jesus and bear fruit because He is the root and the supplier of every good thing in my life. Don’t you want the same things? It’s exciting that our God, who made us and everything in the universe, wants us to be attached to Him, and by being attached, we can learn every day about His wonderful love for us!

Mona Fellers