And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let 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.

Colossians 2:6-7

If you’ve ever experienced a powerful windstorm, you understand why the Bible encourages us to be deeply rooted. Trees with shallow roots are easily uprooted, but the ones with roots that grow deep always stand secure. Similarly when we are deeply rooted in Christ, the winds of change can blow and the storms of life can rage, but they won’t hurt us. We can move with the wind and get blown about in the storms, but our strong roots in Jesus always keep us standing. Sometimes pride makes us believe we are more solid in our faith than we really are, but our roots are actually very shallow. When faced with temptation or caught in the storms that inevitably rage, we easily get knocked down. The depth of our roots and our faith is limited by the depth of our commitment, and when our roots are too shallow to hold us, we become an uprooted mess. 

To be deeply rooted in Christ and build your life on Him requires more than church on Sundays. It requires digging into His Word, rather than digging into public opinion. It requires spending time in prayer and in silence, your heart listening for His voice. It means leaning into the hope that can only come from Jesus, rather than putting your hope in success, money, relationships, or your “ideal” circumstances. When your roots grow deep, when your relationship with Jesus is solid and secure, your faith grows tall and strong. It becomes the only firm foundation on which to build everything else in your life: your career, your family, and your relationships. You will know your roots are deep when your faith grows and your doubts shrink, when your trust increases and your worries decrease, when gratitude replaces bitterness, and when your goal is to imitate Jesus, rather than trying to be like everyone else. If you aren’t seeing Jesus in yourself, your roots are too shallow. Dig deeper! There are no limits to how deeply your roots can grow when your nourishment comes from Him. You are loved!