As we continue looking at Spiritual Fruit, we read in Jeremiah 17:7-8, “The person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is in the Lord, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.” (CSB)
Spiritual Fruit requires that we have a strong root system. If you look at a tree, when the roots are well established, the fruit begins to appear. The stronger the root system the more fruit is being produced. It should be the same in our Spiritual lives. The stronger we are in Christ, grounding ourselves in God’s Word, praying, church attendance, and working on those things that need to develop in producing strong Spiritual Fruit, the more we will be like that tree with the strong root system.
Nothing can destroy a tree that has a strong root system. Winds may come and blow hard against it, but the roots are what keeps it from being toppled to the ground. The same in our lives, the more we sink our roots deep into the “Living Water”, Jesus, (John 7:38) the deeper they will go, and then when life’s storms beat against us, we won’t falter, we won’t be destroyed.
Today’s Scripture gives us a clue as to how we make sure our roots are strong. Jeremiah writes that we are to trust in the Lord. That is the foundation of our Christian life. It all begins with a relationship with Jesus. Once we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, then we can begin to grow. Jeremiah says such a person is blessed! So, how do we begin to cultivate a root system? Bible study, prayer, church attendance, fellowship with other Believers, all help to develop strong roots that dig deep into our foundation, Jesus Christ.
Notice that Jeremiah says that a person who is like that tree doesn’t fear when adversity comes against them. When we put our full trust in Jesus, we have nothing to fear! He is the one who brings us comfort, strength, and peace. The Bible tells us that God is our helper, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 CSB) When we are trying to develop the Spiritual Fruit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, He is right there helping us to be victorious and grow in the Fruit that we find hard to cultivate in our lives.
When we neglect to work on our Spiritual Fruit, then we find our root system is weakened. We begin to stop praying or reading our Bible, and that’s when we find ourselves in situations that leave us weak, and the situations win over our desire to overcome. When that happens, we become like a tree that has a shallow root system and we get toppled over by circumstances. Keeping ourselves grounded in God’s Word, following Jesus in everything we do, working on those things that He has brought to our attention…all these help us to develop strong roots. When we have strong roots, we can withstand any situation that might otherwise leave us destitute Spiritually and sometimes physically.
So, as we take account of our Spiritual Fruit, are we looking at our root system? How strong is it? We must trust God to help us grow, digging deep into His Word and gleaning the rich food it produces to cultivate strong roots and Spiritual Fruit.
donnasmusings 