Daily Devotional

At our house in Chicago we had a half acre of property, and with that came a lot of yard work. Not just cutting grass, but weeding and gardening, and of course raking tons of leaves every fall.  When we bought the property, we noticed a bunch of small bushes running along the chain linked fence on the east side of the property. They were out of control and unshaped, growing into and through the fence. I decided those bushes had to go, but had no idea how hard the task would be. I started on the first one, digging around the base, and hit a root. I took an axe and chopped it. Then kept digging, came to another root and chopped it. I kept digging and…well you get the picture. Each of these bushes had a root system that spread wide and went deep. I never counted the bushes before I started, but there had to be more than twenty of them. And if one bush takes this long to remove, it’s gonna take forever. So I called my cousin and asked if he could bring his Bobcat over to help me take these bushes out. He did, and it was amazing watching this top-notch piece of machinery struggle. He’d use the shovel to dig down a little and loosen the bush. Then he’d grab it, and pull upward. The engine would bog down and almost shut off. The back tires would come off the ground before the root system finally broke loose and released the bush. Their roots grew deep, and they weren’t going anywhere; at least not easily.

It reminds me of this verse…

Colossians 2:6-7 "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude."
 
Paul is writing this from a Roman prison to the church in Colossae whom had never met. False teachers were trying to convince them that they needed more than the grace of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross to save them from their sins. They needed spiritual secrets, hidden knowledge, and man-made rules to be saved.

Well the Christian life does not start with what we do for God, it starts with what God has done for us. Jesus Christ is not just the starting point of our Christian lives, He is the continuation of our Christian lives. He’s the basis for everything, and He’s the goal. We are to become like Him.
 
1. He’s the foundation (v.6a)
Paul calls Him “Christ Jesus, the Lord.” You didn’t become a Christian by cleaning up your life, or checking off a list of rules and regulations, to gain His approval. You received Him humbly, by grace through faith, and not of yourselves.

2. He gave the command (v.6b)
“Walk in Him” - In the Greek, this is a present active command. It means it’s a lifestyle, not just a one-time event. So keep going with Jesus the same way you began. Trust in His Word. And find your security in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection. As we “walk in Christ” each day, we think about His commands. We guard our hearts, we control our tongues, and we control our temper, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. Rooted, built-up and established (v.7a)
‘Rooted’ - Like those bushes in my yard, with roots that grew deep, our source of life draws downward into Christ. When the storms of life come, we stand firm in God’s Word.
‘Built up’ - God is constructing your life. Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone and you are the dwelling place for Him.
‘Established’ - You are confirmed in your faith and stabilized ‘just as you were taught’. You are not built on human philosophy or psychology, but on the inerrant Word of God.

4.Overflowing with gratitude (v.7b)
When your heart is deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, the result will be gratitude. We are not filled with pride or anxiety. We are not swayed by every new teaching this world has to offer. When a Christian starts to understand God’s grace; that they received the undeserved gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, we have only one response; to be grateful.

So, how are your roots? Do they go deep in God’s Word? Or are they shallow based on the teaching of this world? Start going deep in study, meditation and memorization of God’s Word. And you will start to see the roots grow deep, so when the next storm comes along, you won’t be swayed, because you’re firmly anchored in Jesus Christ.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.