I think often the world distracts us, and draws our branches outward and attacks us from beneath. Our roots and the soil around them can be so easily twisted and wrapped up in nutrients we have been told we need by the world...and the scary part is, if we’re not careful to keep Jesus at the forefront of our hearts, we won’t even notice.

Social media. Television. Our peers. Our family. With just a word, all of these things can so easily influence us and change our perception for the worse.

How easily can Jesus do that? How about a bible verse?

The more sermons I hear, the more I experience, and the more Christ is at work in my heart, the more I have come to realize just how easy it is to become rooted in the world.

It is a daily battle to keep my roots holding onto God. For me, anxiety wields a sword that is sharp and ready for battle, especially in my weakest moments. What wields a sword in your life, or, if we’re going along with the tree analogy used by Pastor Anthony last week, what wields a weed wacker, or maybe a wood chipper? Well, I confess I am not a yard tool expert, but I do know that the fight to stay rooted in God starts with directing our eyes back to Jesus, and what his sacrifice means for us, in every area of our lives. The devil is cunning, and always ready for battle. 

So, what difficulty in your life strives to unroot you, and what steps will you take to stay rooted in Christ? As so poetically referred to in Jeremiah 17:7-8, let us “not fear what comes” in our lives in the form of difficulty, and let us bear fruit no matter the season.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 - But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.