Rooted

It's that time of year again. The cold weather, the stress of the end of the semester, exams, papers, the hectic holiday shopping all call for a burn out sooner or later. For many Christians it's the time of compromise. I can gain an extra hour of study time (or sleep) instead of reading my Bible. I can get the extra hours at work if I miss small group. The list goes on and I think we can all say we've been there. What I've been realizing though is that we don't have time not to. We don't have time not to read our Bible, for it's what directs us in life. We don't have time not to pray, for this is how our hearts mold to God's will. We don't have time not to gather together to grow in community, for God didn't call us to do life alone.


I've also come to realize that this isn't so much a time problem as it is a heart problem. The second part of Romans 11:16 says "if the root is holy, so are the branches." Our root is our heart. Jesus has given us a heart transplant and we have to take the responsibility to keep our hearts rooted in Him. Just as this verse says, if our root is holy, that is if our hearts are pure in Christ, so are the branches, everything that flows from our hearts. So you see, its not a time problem, its a root problem. If we keep our hearts focused on Him and keep Him in the center of our heart, everything that flows from it will be kept holy as well. We'll think twice in those moments of compromise, we'll think twice about being quick to get agitated and annoyed, and we wont be as likely to end up in a burn out.


It's that stressful time of year, but remember we don't have time not to keep our hearts rooted. Let all else flow from that be holy and pleasing to Him who is the root of all things.