Grow Deep into God's Love
Sunday, February 25
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. (Ephesians 3:16-17)
Our roots growing down into God's love and keeping us strong is the second result of Paul's prayer earlier. The empowerment of inner strength he prayed for brings about our roots growing down into God's love.
Spiritual growth happens when the tree of our lives grows down into the soil of God's love. That's the picture Paul seeks to paint in our minds. We are the roots, God's love is the soil. The result is spiritual maturity and strength. The only way to grow up in Christ is to grow down into God's love. Let me explain.
When a tree is planted, its survival and growth and maturity and strength is essentially dependent on how deep its root grows down into the soil. From the soil, it takes nutrients to grow and produce good fruits. It's the same with us. God's love is essential to our survival, growth, maturity, and strength. From God's love, we take spiritual nutrients to grow and produce good fruits. The more deeper we grow into God's love, the more we know the love of God, the more we look like Christ and the more we become strong.
Here's what the psalmist wrote in Psalms 1:3, "They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do." These are people who love and follow God's word and commands. Their roots are connected to the riverbanks of the Spirit of God's love. And they bear fruit each season. We need to grow deeper into the love of God. We need to know the love of God in greater experiences.
Doing the Word
Let your root grow now into God's love.
Prayer
Dear Father, I want to grow deeper into Your love. I want to experience it in a greater dimension. That is my heart's desire. I want to become more like Christ. I want to know Your love more and more. In Jesus' name, Amen!