Deeply Rooted

 

“He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”

—Psalm 1:3

Trees fascinate me. I love the variety, the shapes, the different leaves, and how the trees and leaves look in different seasons. Trees have often seemed like major décor in God’s world: decorating and defining space, shading, and quietly fluttering in the breeze.

I am impressed that, quite often, the writers of Scripture use trees to teach us, to describe a characteristic, and to liken the trees to some quality in our lives. In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, we see the offspring of a healthy tree: leaves and fruit. Often these elements supply life-sustaining food for humankind and animals. They also give evidence to us of health, strength, usefulness, and beauty.

Yet, we don’t often see the most important part of the tree because that part lies deep underground. In a healthy specimen, more than half of a tree can remain beneath the surface of the ground. There, it reaches out for nourishment from the soil and for deep springs of life-giving water.

Trees that have stunted roots, those that grow quickly and sprout early, often do not have the stabilizing power of those that have grown over many years. Jesus uses this principle in His well-known “Parable of the Sower” found in Matthew 13:5, when He teaches about the farmer’s seed:

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Our growth in grace follows a similar timeline. God plants His Spirit in us. But, God wants to grow us deeply into the “soil” of His written Word. If we immerse ourselves in Scripture, we will grow in our knowledge of, and relationship with, God and with His church.

We must not expect that our Christian lives, or our churches, or our ministries to “spring up overnight.” Rather, we must allow time, difficulties, and the seasons of life to develop God’s process of deeply-rooted spiritual growth.

Seeds of vegetation scattered on a soil with rocky places will spring up quickly and die off quickly because they haven’t grown deep roots into the nourishing soil. Likewise, our personal Christian spiritual formation that develops too rapidly—with unnatural enthusiasm and without putting deep “roots” into God’s written Word, without cultivating faithfulness to a local church, and without spending time with mature fellow Christians—will ultimately run the risk of burning out and of failing to produce useful spiritual fruit.

Instead, let’s find a beautiful large tree. And, let’s think of the seasons of its life and how deeply its roots must have reached. Then, let’s allow God to mature us spiritually in the same way. We must remain patient and look forward to the sweet fruit and beautiful leaves which will surely appear, if we remain patient in our pursuit of holiness.

 

 

The Child Proclaims The Parent

 

“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

—Matthew 5:16

When people observe a male child, we often hear them remark: “He looks so much like his father.” Within a family, we can even more closely see the presence of family resemblances. “Aunt Roberta’s hands remind me of Grandma’s.” Or: “I see that Joey is losing his hair at just about the same age as his father did.”

During my years as an elementary and middle school teacher, I heard the following comment after colleagues met parents at conference time: “Well, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree!” Our children do not only carry the physical characteristics of their parents. They also often carry the personality traits and life style traits, as well.

The sentence from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” that is stated at the beginning of this blog post, speaks to us in a similar vein. When people see our good deeds, they shouldn’t praise us, but rather they should praise our Heavenly Father.

Do we often think of the loving Creator-Sustainer God when we see His good works in the people that we know? Does our own behavior cause people to consider what we have done, as though Christ Himself is living His life in us and through us? Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts it this way: ¹

The child tells us a great deal about his parents, does he not? The child not merely tells us things about himself, he tells us much more about his parents. As you watch the behavior of a child you are really learning a great deal about the discipline, or lack of it, at home. The child proclaims the parent.

Referring to Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus speaks about loving our enemies, blessing those that curse us, and doing good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us. Why should we do all these things? We should do these things, so that we may be known as children of our Father, who is in heaven. Again, Dr. Lloyd-Jones writes: ²

That is why we have to do it, that we may be like our Father, that we may proclaim the family to which we belong … So the next time you are in doubt about some course of action, whether you should do a certain thing or not, do not spend your time arguing with someone as to whether it is right or wrong, simply ask, “Is that sort of thing worthy of my Father’s son [or daughter]? Is it consistent with the family to which I belong, the Father who has put His own name on me and whom I represent among men?”

Parents hope for their children to represent the family well, to make them proud, to have others observe what the years of training, disciplining, and loving have produced. In the same way, our Heavenly Father looks at us and desires that we represent well the spiritual family into which He has placed us. Out of sheer gratitude, we should apply ourselves, more and more, to look like Him!

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1 Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. God’s Way of Reconciliation. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972. p. 334. Please note that whenever a citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog, such a citation is given strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

2 Ibid.

 

 

Not An Easy Game of Telephone

 

“Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.”

—Joel 1:3

Nearly everyone has played the “Game of Telephone.” A simple phrase gets secretly passed in a whisper from one person to another. This continues around a circle until the last person receives the phrase and then proclaims it aloud. To the enjoyment of everyone, the phrase has often drastically changed from the original whisperer, as each person hears what the previous person told him or her, and then passes the phrase onward. The game seems more fun, the more outrageous the change that takes place in the course of transmitting the original phrase.

When the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ passes from one generation to another, we should aim at total accuracy above all else. We all know people who come from a long line of faithful Christians, but over the course of their upbringing they may have heard a particular twist to the gospel story that changes them into doubters or cynics of the faith—sadly, or even deserters from the faith. Other voices intervene in the transmission of God’s truth. In fact, one who sows lies joins the circle and, before long, the last hearer receives a message that completely distorts what the first person heard and understood.

How do we keep the children of this generation from being negatively affected by those who would try to influence them away from the true Gospel, the Truth of the written Word of God? Parents can’t always prevent their children from hearing wrong voices. However, if the parents have carefully orchestrated whom their children hear most often, and find ways to introduce them to winsome Christian family members and Christian friends, this latest generation will hear and carry on the faithful truths of the great heritage we have in Christ Jesus.

Please let me offer an example:

When I taught elementary music in a public school, folk songs became the major element of my curriculum. Not only did these folk songs supply the musical elements I taught, they also provided students with the “mother tongue” of their heritage as Americans. Scripture is the “mother tongue” of our Christian heritage. Our children need to hear faithful preaching and faithful teaching of God’s written Word. Our children need to come to know faithful Christians in the church, and our children need to observe these Christians’ lives of service and devotion to Christ and His Kingdom.

Yes, children need to see and hear people who have made the Christian life a firm foundation for their lives, and children need to see and hear people whose lives they can emulate. The children also need to learn the songs and hymns of their Christian heritage.

At the end of Moses’ life, as recorded in Deuteronomy 31, he wrote a song and instructed the Israelites to teach it and to sing it, as a testimony of God’s work. In similar fashion, Psalm 78:1-6 speaks of writing parables, in order to teach the next generation. Excerpts of those verses state:

I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old … We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord … he commanded our forefathers to teach their children so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Not only has God given us the means to teach the next generation, He can give us the courage, wisdom, grace, and all else that we need in order to do so. Let us pray for this current generation of children. And, let us pray for those who not only begin their lives surrounded by the message of Christ, but who will carry it on throughout their lifetimes.

 

 

Appropriate Luggage

 

But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

—2 Corinthians 10:12 RSV

Christian speaker and artist, Joni Eareckson Tada, in her devotional book, Pearls of Great Price, ¹ recounts a thought she had while traveling:

I have been at countless airport carousels, watching as bags innumerable drop from the chute. Some of those pieces are very nice. Smart leather trim. Clean. New. In my daydreams I wonder what would happen if I swapped my old, scuffed-up luggage for one of those fancy pieces? I wouldn’t of course, But if I did, what might I find inside? Elegant clothes that don’t fit. Shoes I don’t like. Makeup that doesn’t match my skin tone. Jewelry that’s clunky and overdone. And what might I lose in this hypothetical deal? I’d lose my speaking notes, my favorite dress jeans, and treasured personal jewelry. I would lose the devotional book I love to read in the morning. In fact, while the bag I took might look better on the outside, it’s a no-brainer that the stuff on the inside wouldn’t be a good fit at all.

It’s easy to look at others and wish we could be like them: to have their talent, or their trim figure, or their jewelry collection, or whatever. And sometimes, all this comparison leads us to commit the sin of covetousness.

God has given each of us our own perfect milieu in which to live our lives. If He has made us to be a stay-at-home mom, He may not have given us the ability to speak in public. If He has made us to speak in public, He may not have given us children. God planned the whole package when He created us.

We must learn to see ourselves as God sees us: a perfect blend of everything He needs us to be. Even those things we consider weaknesses, He can use for His glory. Instead of looking longingly on what He has given others, we need to say with the Psalmist David, as found in Psalm 139:14, 16 NIV:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well … All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Let’s look in the mirror today, and thank God for all He has given us. And, let’s pledge to Him that we will willingly use all our gifts in service to Him! What a joy!

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1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2006. Devotional for September 6th. Please note that in each case, citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.