Thayer Thursday – Root Rot
I’m originally from New York.
Not the city, but the state; Northeast New York to be more specific.
I’ve found that many people only think of New York as the “Concrete Jungle,” yet Manhattan makes up a small portion of the state. The rest of New York has some of the most beautiful farmland in the country.
I remember as a boy going out beside the barn we had in our back yard and digging through the dirt to find “night-crawlers.” Long, fat, worms. It was easy for me as a child to dig holes in the dirt. The soil was rich and pitch black – perfect for growing beautiful gardens with fragrant flowers and delicious vegetables.
Then, I moved down south and found out that not all dirt is the same. It’s hard enough for a grown man with a pic-axe to dig a hole in the clay we have down here much less a child to be able to dig for worms.
This summer we planted several beautiful flowers in one of our gardens behind our house. We dug holes about 4 inches in diameter and 10 inches deep. Normally, that would be just fine for the plants to take root and start growing on their own. However, since clay has extremely poor drainage and we had one of the most rain-filled years in history, the plants developed root rot. They couldn’t take root in the rock-hard soil and the holes stayed full of water which caused the disease.
The plants quickly died.
In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul uses the agricultural imagery of roots for Christians.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every familyin heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
His purpose is for the readers to recognize the love that Christ has for them and the immeasurable depths which it reaches.
With this realization, with our roots digging ever deeper into the love that God has shown us and continues to show us through Jesus, we are “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” We can proceed, as Paul goes on to explain in chapter 4, to live the life of unity and love in and for one another precisely because we are rooted in the very love of God.
When we grasp the reality of Him, we are compelled to live out of that reality – out of the nourishment that His rich & immeasurably deep soil gives us.
However, often we are far too easily pleased. We keep our roots tucked neatly under us, and live in a hole dug in clay.
Just as I experienced this summer with my plants – this will lead to root rot. It will lead to decay.
Don’t settle for a shallow understanding and life in Christ.
Dig deeply.
Become firmly rooted in Him.
You won’t regret it. His soil is rich and its depth is incomparably vast. With His love as our foundation, we will be able to live out the life that He wants us to live – making Jesus Lord of all our actions.
Chris Thayer
Categories: Blog, New Testament, Thayer Thursday
I love all of Paul’s prayers to the churches and verses 17 through 19 of this passage is no exception. Can you imagine if we were all able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ really is? One of my goals is to discover just that!
by Matthew Gaither on Oct 3, 2013 at 11:38 pm