ROOTED AND GROUNDED?

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and rounded in love.” Ephesians 3:17

With a colder than average winter season, I’ve had fewer lawns to cut and have been able to take on more landscape work. During this time, God has been teaching me first-hand about this rooting and grounding stuff. At one property, a particular azalea; our nemesis, exhausted the best of our picks, axes and shovels. Two weeks later, after successful extraction, we considered placing the fiend in a trophy case. None-the-less this and other experiences like it, have taught me of the importance of good root structure and development.

After old or diseased hedges are dug out and removed, the soil has to be well tilled before new plants can be placed or transplanted. Liz Toffey in her article entitled, “Planting and Transplanting,” reiterates that “roots are the most important part of a plant and the heart of success in planting.” She describes roots as straws. These straws represent a vascular like structure whereby nutrients and water travel up to the visible surface area of the plant.

Before planting, the roots have to be untangled and given plenty of space underground to spread out. As Toffey says, “It does the plant no good to bend or stuff them into a hole.” Once the roots have been spread out, a hole is dug twice as wide as the root system; and a process known as “mudding-in” is employed to secure the plant in the ground. “Mudding-In,” a term dubbed by the British to describe the method of developing a mud-puddle for a plant; allows water to drain away while dirt settles in around its roots. Roots can only spread out and grow if they are placed in good loose, well tilled soil. The process of mudding-in minimizes chances for underground air pockets to form thereby allowing roots to dry out.

I know what you’re thinking. TMI, (Too Much Information.) We don’t have to become plant experts to grow in Christ’s love. Or do we? In Ephesians 3:17, you will recall that we are instructed by the apostle Paul to be rooted and grounded in God’s love through Christ Jesus. In the context of this 117 word sentence; Paul tells us in verse 18, that without being rooted and grounded in Christ’s love we will never be able to comprehend God’s love. In the paraphrased Message version of the Bible, Eugene Peterson explains Paul’s prayer this way:

“And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”

Do you long to live in that type of atmosphere? What keeps us from becoming established in such a thought-provoking creative supportive stimulating environment? A lack of roots? Could it be our egocentric need to always feel liberated?

G. K Chesterton once said, “Love is not blind’ this is the last thing it is. Love is bound; and the more it is bound the less it is blind.” The self-centered materialistic culture we live in, often defines love as a strong sense of affection or attachment. Love is reduced to a feeling that is here today and gone tomorrow.

Chesterton was not the first to recognize that love is hard work. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word BOUND as to dwell or prepare. When my wife and I got married, the first way I chose to demonstrate my love for her was to move into the same place with her so we could be together. The act of dwelling together first manifested itself in co-existing side by side. As our marriage and relationship grew we began to inhabit the financial, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual areas of each other’s lives.

In the same manner, for us to become effectively bound together with God our hearts and minds have to be prepared. God designed marriage for a lifetime because this work of binding and preparation takes may years to develop. The soil in which the human soul grows is love. God’s love! In Jeremiah 4:3 and Hosea 10:12, we have been instructed to break up the fallow ground of our hearts.

God desire is for us to be positioned and ready so we can grow-up into His love. Allow Him to remove any stumbling blocks in the soil of your heart, that might corrupt or limit His work. Make the investment of preparing your heart, by removing whatever rootlets tie you to ineffective ways of living. Dive into God’s love as revealed in His Word and let your roots grow deep and strong. Find a community of believers that enrich your opportunities for growth, connection and unity. And finally, and most important, communicate with your Master Gardener!

“You will be called…. A planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” Isaiah 61:3