Bible says, Our Christian life should be always steadfast, immovable and we should stand firm in our Lord. Let us examine our lives, are we spiritually unstable with lots of ups and downs?, tossed her and there by various trials and difficulties ? Matthew 11:6, ‘And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”’ The root cause of the problem of not being steadfast in our Christian life is problem at the ‘root’ itself.
Colossians 2:6,7, ‘Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude’.
NLT Version we see, ‘6And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness’.This is the how the spiritual growth of a believer should be. God is expecting this from our lives.
As verse 6 says, first step, is we received Lord Jesus Christ – This is the beginning of our Christian life, our spiritual growth begins here. Second step is, ‘Our roots should grow down in Him, our lives be built on Him, our faith should grow in Him’ and the end result should be – ‘overflowing with thankfulness’. Where is our standing in our spiritual growth? Where is our faith? Why our faith is wavering? Because the roots are not deep in Him. Are we overflowing with thankfulness? Is there still complaining? murmuring? Are we giving thanks to God, in everything under, all circumstances? Let us have a spiritual check – what are we lacking here? In which areas? Our roots need to grow deep into Him and our lives should overflow with thankfulness. This is God’s will for our lives. This is the spiritual growth. Roots are the important part of the growth here. Root holds the tree in storms. Similarly, our deep roots in Him, will hold our Christian lives in any climate, any storms, any trials or any temptations. Roots are hidden, similarly, our outward life shows how we are inward, hidden life. Our devotion and simplicity should be rooted in Him – in faith and His love. When the ship is anchored in the sea means, anchor is not on the surface of the water but deep on the sea bed– anchor holds the big ship from storms , similarly, we need to have immovable, be steadfast, anchored in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:58, ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord’.
Mark 4:5,6, ‘Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away’. Here is a picture of a believer who started well, has a good beginning but ends up in a tragedy. Why? We see that the spiritual growth here, is immediate. But after some time, because of various trials, difficulties, he faced, he withered away immediately. Why? Holy Spirit mentions here, that he had no firm root and withered away. God wants our Christian life to be rooted firmly in Him. God is not happy with this kind of shallow life. God is encouraging us to grow our roots, deep into Him.
Jeremiah 17:7,8, ‘7Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. 8For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit’.
This is the picture of a blessed Christian life. Heat, drought may come into our lives but the result should be like the Holy Spirit says here, ‘always, in every situation yield fruits’. Secret is the ‘roots extends into the water’. This is the blessed life. Let us examine where our roots are?
Ezekiel 47:3-5, ‘3When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. 4Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. 5Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded’. We see here, the different levels of our Spiritual life. Ankle level – shallow life. Knee level – never be satisfied for this level. Always hunger and thirst for more. Loins level – still go further. Swimming level – This is the abundant Christian life, which God wants from us. This is mentioned in John 7:38, ‘He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ – innermost being flowing with rivers of living water. This is how the growth of our Christian life should be. Let us ask God, to have such a blessed life. Let us have a hunger and thirst for this blessed Christian life.
Mark 4:5-7, ‘5Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop’.
What is hindering us from having spiritual growth? The soil is our heart, we must prepare the soil well, be pure in heart, search our hearts, know which area is hindering us, from having an abundant life. Holy Spirit will show us. In the soil (heart), we see that, there are some rocky stones hidden, some secret sins are hidden, Holy Spirit will reveal us, and show us, what is hindering us, in our Christian life, to grow into the spiritual maturity, whether it is our hardness of our heart, laziness, many things. Prepare the soil really well which is your ‘heart’ and come back to God. This is the first step. Let us search our heart, for any rocky ground, or any hidden secret sins are still hiding in our hearts – God will reveal it to us, to repent and grow into spiritual maturity.
Hosea 10:12, ‘Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you’ In NLT, ‘I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’
Let us plow up the hard ground of our hearts, to grow roots deep into Him. We cannot avoid the seasons in our lives and is the reality of our lives. We can stand the firm in the Lord and yield the fruits –‘only because our roots are grounded deep in our Lord Jesus Christ, because of faith, His love’. This is the secret of our Christian life. Let us long to have our roots deeply grounded in Him alone. Let our lives be built on Him, established in our faith in Him and overflowing with thankfulness. God bless.
