Today’s 333 Devotional: Deep Roots, New Beginnings
Before we can grow up, we must grow down.
This has always been at the heart of God’s plan. This truth is present in God’s creation. Before any plant life reaches the surface and bears fruit, it must receive the necessary nutrients from the soil, so it sends its roots deep into the soil.
This is also God’s plan for His people.
“And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.” (Isaiah 37:31)
God calls us to bear fruit in our walk with Him.
“The godly are like trees that bear life-giving fruit, and those who save lives are wise.” (Proverbs 11:30)
If we are to grow deep roots so we can bear life-giving fruit, what are we to grow our roots into?
We are not to grow our roots into the world or religion. If we grow our roots into the world, then God’s love will be missing (1 John 2:15), and if we grow our roots into religion, then our fruit will be hypocritical (Matthew 6: 2, 5, 16).
Instead, we are to grow our roots deep into hearts softened by God’s word. Jesus taught this in the parable of the sower.
“The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
Jesus said the ground the seed falls upon is our hearts. And for these roots to grow deep into our hearts, our hearts must be made pliable through God’s word in order to avail themselves of the nutrients necessary to provide stability and strength.
When they’re not, then we’ll either be blown away by the first strong wind of persecution or choked to death by the cares of this world (Matthew 13:20-22).
Grow deep down into God’s word so we can grow up into a mature believer.