Choosing Roots

We all need roots of some kind. We find them in varying places... but there is ONE Root Who will remain healthy, strong, and able to nourish us throughout our journey here on earth.One of the best ways I've heard this particular root and plant language to discuss the fruit and health of our lives is tells us that:

If outward displays of service and compassion are the leafy foliage of a plant, the part you can see, touch, and point to, then our Christ identity is like the hidden roots that go down deep into the dark earth and hold it all up. Without the roots, the leafy plant dies.  ~ Wendy Blight

I read the above quote this morning as part of a blog (linked at name). Being a nature person, I totally connected with this and wanted to just share my own thoughts about it with you briefly. The image itself is very powerful and reminds me of the parables Jesus used to help His followers better understand kingdom principles. Life principles. Love principles. Life itself.

What do we know about Jesus the Root? Since He is where we gain our identity, it would be good to know... Isaiah 53:2 tells us... and the New Testament tells us as we look at His life in the context of His surroundings, relationships, lifestyle, and ministry.

With the eyes of faith, and the walk of faith, we can sink deeply into the soil that is the Spiritual Realm and know that Christ walks alongside and guides us. He is the root of that soil. He is the root of our life.

Some people seem to be more like Billy Joel when he says:“I know I'm searching for something
Something so undefined
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night.”

Others see their family as their root, or circumstances they are in. Other times, as in A Walk in the Clouds, there is something symbolically joining people together:

Don Pedro is talking with Paul out by the vine stub he brought with his to Las Nubes years prior, now a great grape plant...

This is the root I brought with me, a descendant from the root the first Pedro brought with him. All our vines come from this one. It's not just the root of Las Nubes. It's the root... of our lives, of Victoria's life. Now that you're a part of all this, a part of us, it is the root of your life. You are an orphan no longer.

Paul has to decide what he will do: choose the roots he already planted or gain new ones to grow from. He wasn't given much of a chance to grow at home; the situation he was with his wife in were shallow soil experiences. Would he dare aim to grow where he is accepted and challenged and able to grow? That was the decision, ultimately, he had to make. A decision about roots.

Sometimes others choose our roots for us, and we let them persuade us. And sometimes we must decide for ourselves, ignoring the crowd.

What, where, and who will you  sow your life into? Will you allow Jesus to be the root of your life, strong, sure, healthy and nourishing? Will you allow Him to help you grow into your potential?