“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 2:7 (NLT)
I was renting a house and thrilled to see that, as spring arrived, I had beautiful flowers growing around my house. I don’t pretend to have gardening skills and a “green thumb,” but I have planted a few things that actually grew! In my yard that spring, I observed some beautiful plants that didn’t know enough to stay with the other plants, so I carefully dug them up one at a time and replanted them in the flower bed.
I did this several times and, before I knew it, I had a pretty-looking flower garden. I went to bed one night feeling like an accomplished gardener. But when I checked on my plants the next day, the flowers I’d previously planted were starting to droop and wilt. I quickly had a neighbor come to inspect what I’d done wrong. She smiled and said, “Don’t worry, you transplanted weeds, and they don’t need to grow!” It was a shock to me that weeds could look like real flowers.
In our lives, this can happen: we can help the “weeds” to grow. They can look pretty for a while, but they will always bring death instead of life. Weeds choke out the good things, and eventually overtake the beauty of a vibrant healthy plant.
So my thought is, “Don’t let the weeds grow!” Be rooted in Jesus. That is what will sustain you and help you grow the right way. We grow stronger when our “roots” are secure in reading the Bible, getting to know God more each day, and having encouraging friends who love Jesus, too. These things will help us stay rooted for all our days.
– Corrie Hill
Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website.
Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org