There’s a phrase “putting down roots” that describes someone settling down in a place. I have heard this phrase used to describe people I know who have finally settled in one place after jumping from job to job and one town to another. But do we think of this phrase in the spiritual sense as settling down with God?
To settle down with God is to focus on building a relationship with him. It means putting down roots deep into his scripture; spending focused time in prayer with God; drawing deeply from solid relationships with other believers. The challenge is to not get distracted by customs and beliefs in this world that can uproot our faith in Jesus. This is what happened repeatedly to the Israelites in the Old Testament. Psalm 106:34-35 tells us how the Israelites repeatedly disobeyed God by mingling with other nations and adopting their customs.
When we put down roots with God we secure ourselves to his eternal grace and love. The deeper our faith in him, the more we can draw on God’s strength and not our own; the better prepared we’ll be for the storms of life. Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit (NIV).”
#Retrospective — This post originally published April 5, 2018.
© 2018 CGThelen
140 Character Christian 
This reminds me of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. Thanks for this reminder!
Such a great prayer. So many powerful verses: …”Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…” Thanks for sharing. Blessings.
I love that image of a tree planted by the water, (also in Psalm 1) that has an unseen source of life even in the midst of drought.
Yes, an unseen tap root to living water!