Deeply Rooted

If you have ever tried to remove a shrub or tree from a yard, you know the struggle of dealing with something that is deeply rooted in the ground. When a plant is young and has shallow roots, you could easily walk over and pull it up out of the ground and be done with it, but if you are trying to remove a plant that had put down roots, it can be a real struggle trying to get it out. One of the reasons why plants grow roots deep into the ground is so that they can withstand harsher weather and so that they can get even more water and nutrients from the dirt around them.

There is an idea that Paul gives us in Ephesians 3:7-21 that we may struggle with from time to time. He starts off by pointing out that he was a minister of God’s grace and that he preaches about “unsearchable riches” of Christ. This is an interesting term because Paul does not mean that they cannot be known, but that they are more complex than what people would think they could be. Think of it like a cave that is dark and has many twists and turns, but that does not mean that it is impossible to find your way through. Paul then continues to talk about how it was through the wisdom of God that we have arrived at where Christ came can now we can enter into a relationship with God.

Paul then points out in verses 17-19 that through our being rooted and grounded in love we can comprehend “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.” Through our roots being firmly planted in Christ and in his teaching, we can understand the things that are hard to understand and have knowledge that surpasses understanding. That seems complex, but it comes down to the fact that if we study what God planned and says for us to do, we will know God’s mind better. If we know God’s mind better, the things of this earth will seem to fade.
While we live here on earth, we need to look to the knowledge of God and dig deeper so that we can gain more from the things God would teach us. We need to have deep roots so that when anything tries to throw us off, we can hold strong against the evil trying to pull us out of the ground. And we need to never forget the way Paul ends this “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”