YOUR ROOTS IN THE KINGDOM

  • July 23rd, 2010 | Johnny Bragg | No Comments |

    This week I pulled a weed from our church mulch. One tug and it came right out, and I dropped it next to where it had been growing. Left to die in the heat. What is remarkable is that the weed was only 6 inches from where it had just been thriving. It still had sunshine. It still will be watered during the next rainfall. It is still on the ground. But it will not make it for one reason: roots. Plants must be rooted deep to make it. To live. To grow.

    Our lives are the same. We must put down roots in the body of Christ to thrive. We are to be planted by streams of living water (Psalm 1:3), growing together with other believers. Yet too many Christians try and make it on their own. Trying to survive without roots. Without relationships. Without fellowship, laughter, and the process of community that makes us all stronger.

    What makes us think we can do it on our own? Jesus said, apart from me you can do nothing. Nothing! And part of being connected to Jesus is being connected to his body.

    I know it’s not easy. Church life can be tough. But boy, oh boy, IT IS WORTH THE STRUGGLE! I love church. I would not be here if not for the local church. I was born again at home, but it was within the church body that I found my calling, grew in the Lord, and am now raising our kids. I even met my wife in a Sunday morning church service. PRAISE GOD FOR CHURCH!

    If you are blessed to have a church family, I encourage you to keep at it. Dig your roots deep. Get involved with others in your sheep pen. Laugh. Eat. Work. Learn. And grow.

    And if you are in a place where you are out there on your own, be encouraged! God has a body for you. You belong somewhere. Pray and ask him where you are to be. And when you find it, jump in with both feet. Get yourself planted. Get your roots down and growing.

    John 15:4, Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.


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