Bad Roots, Bad Fruit
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
Insight
I grew up in the nice and quiet town of Burgaw. To give it an extra small-town feel, I technically grew up in Saint Helena on a farm, which means I possess a ton of nerdy information about plants. We had a full garden with plenty of vegetables and even some wildlife. At our farm’s peak there were two lines of trees that made our front yard seem like the location of a cheesy Hallmark movie.
During my time on the farm, I learned the importance of roots. The potential of any plant to be fruitful and have a life depends on the health of its root system. The roots are the place of growth and sustenance within a plant. If there are unhealthy, then there is no chance for nourishing fruit. My grandpa would say, “Bad roots, bad fruit.”
In the case of humans, our root system is our heart. If your heart stops, you will stop. Everything we are flows from it. For those of us who follow Jesus, we take this truth a bit further. One of the wisest guys in human history named King Solomon wrote, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverb 4:23). But there is a tension in this truth because the prophet Jeremiah tells us that our hearts are deceitful above all else, and cannot be trusted (Jeremiah 17:9).
What we soon realize is that unless we can root our hearts into a greater source, then we will continue to produce “bad fruit.” Paul wrote these powerful words to reveal to us what that greater source is love; not just any love but God’s love. One important characteristic of God’s love is that it is infinite.
Have you ever truly wrestled with God’s love being immeasurable, complete and perfect? The reality of God’s love should be a little uncomfortable at first because it is unlike anything else. Something special begins to happen in us when we dive into God’s love. We plant our roots into the only true sustainable Source in this life. As our roots continue to grow deeper into God’s love we begin to live out of the greater Source.
The fruit we produce is the love we have for others. We display our deep roots when we begin to share and show His love to others. Our work as individuals, and as The Church, is to honor the greatest commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). Living this out requires reliance on a greater Source. What an opportunity we have for others to experience how loved they are by the Savior and the Father simply by loving them the best we can.
Reflection
Where is your heart planted this season?
What steps can you take to ground yourself in the immeasurable love of God?
Prayer
Father, thank you for the undeserved gift of Your love. Not just any love, but a love that is immeasurable, perfect and complete. I pray that I would dig my roots deeper into this amazing love. As my roots grow deeper may I be a reflection to others. Let my words and actions point others to You as a greater Source for this life. I love You so much Father, and I pray all of this in Your holy name, Amen.
Port City writer Davy Nance wrote today’s devotional.
