This past weekend, as I was sitting at a picnic table enjoying the fresh air, I looked up towards the sky. I noticed the moon and a few stars. Right beside me was a scraggly tree. The branches were completely bare and they reminded me of roots that secure a tree in place.

Looking up at the thin, scrawny branches above me, I couldn’t help but wonder “what am I rooted in?“.

Am I rooted in Christ?

Or has something else the world has temped me with caught my full attention?

Sports, food, fitness, career, etc.

There are so many distractions the world has to offer, are we choosing to give in to them? Are the distractions just too good to pass up?

Colossians 2:6-7

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 3:17

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,”

John 15: 4-11

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his loveThese things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

I am thankful for the beautiful fall weather that evening and the tree’s branches that resembled roots way more than any branches ever could.

We’ve almost made it through 2020.

What have you been rooted in this year? What will you choose to be rooted in for the remainder of the year?

Being rooted in something isn’t instantaneous. Becoming rooted takes time. Our habits matter. If I decide that I am too busy to spend time with Jesus in His Word, than that habit isn’t going to lead to me being rooted in Christ, but in whatever other way I choose to spend my time.

If I’m rooted in myself, my job or anything else, I will falter because I’m not resting on a sure foundation.

God is the only One that we should be rooted in or resting in. With all that is going on in the world, it can be easy to stress, overthink and try to rest in anything that seems substantial, but that’s not what God wants for us.

He never wants us to be stressed while relying on ourselves.

He wants us to abide in Him. To be rooted in Him and Him alone.

So, what are you rooted in?