Let God’s love have deep roots

Over the past few years, there has been a little tree that has rooted itself in my flower garden in front of my house.

I cut the little tree and chop it down and then all of a sudden in a couple of weeks it starts sprouting again. It is a sign that the roots are deep.

I am aware the only way I could really remove the tree from the flower garden is to chop it down and then dig up the roots, something I’m not looking forward to but I know it needs to be done. If not, the tree could have roots that are so deep they will begin to break up the foundation of a house.

It’s hard to believe those roots could go so deep and be so thick and strong they could bust through concrete. The truth is, they do have the power to bust through the concrete and they will bust through the concrete if I don’t remove the tree and the roots.

Though the task seems to be daunting, the truth is it is a great illustration of faith.

The more we pursue Jesus, the more we feed on the word of God, and the more that we pursue the bread of life Jesus Christ himself, the deeper the roots grow. The more we run after Jesus, the deeper our love grows for God and others.

Ephesians 3:16 and 17 says; “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.”

When we view things from God’s love, everything around us takes on a different perspective.

God’s love allows us to love differently. God’s love allows our eyes and our ears to be a gift. And through the power of God’s love, we have the ability to make a difference.

Because of God’s love, the word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword. It is able to penetrate through soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

In the same way that the little tree has the possible ability for its roots to dig deep in the ground and bust through the concrete foundation of the parsonage, so do the roots of God have the ability to penetrate deep into our hearts and make our hearts soft again, busting down the walls that have been put up through the hurt and pain we have acquired through the years.

Here is the kicker, for me, this word in Ephesians continues to tell us that we cannot comprehend fully how deep and how wide and how high the love of God is for us. We may not be able to comprehend it but at the same time, God’s word tells us that nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our lord.

I pray as always that you have a wonderful week. May your family be blessed and have peace on Earth y’all!

Dave Truncone is the pastor of First Assembly of God Church in Van Buren. He is married to Heidi and they have two daughters, Hannah and Abigail. They live in Van Buren.