ROOTED RENEGADE

As I was taking my bamboo plant out of the water and cleaning it I clearly heard the Lord tell me to look closely at it’s root system. As I examine it I could see where it had grown strong new fresh roots in the water and where it’s other roots were thing and frail. He reminded me that our root system is much like the same as that of the bamboo that I was holding in my hand.

If you look at the picture above you can see the distinct differences between the roots. Some are healthy and freshly grown from the plant with new shoots growing from them as well. Others are paper thin and look as if they will break at any minute. If you have ever held a bamboo plant before you know that when you take it out of the water to clean it, sometimes those paper thin roots will break. Only one of my bamboo plants gets a thick black film on the roots so I have be extra careful when cleaning it to make sure that I get all the muck off of it before I put it back in filtered water that is clean and fresh.

Isn’t that what God does to us when He cleans us all up? One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 40:1-3. It beautifully says that he pulls us out of that muck! He cleans us off! He puts our feet on a solid foundation and doesn’t set us on shaky ground like the world does. Think about that for a minute. A solid foundation. What does that look like to you? What do you think it should look like if you are not sure? Coming from a background of trafficking, addiction, abuse, and prostitution, I was not sure what solid foundation would ever look like in my life. I was always told I would never good be good enough for anything until I was snatched by the hands of Yahweh out of the pit of despair. I felt like I would never be good enough either.

My root system was much like that of the bamboo’s with thin roots in a tangled mess. Bitterness, resentment, hate, anger, rage, etc. all weaved together and whenever someone, including me, tried to sort out the mess or clean it up, the roots would break in the middle and I would be a disaster. Not a beautiful one either. Often we find ourselves stuck in ruts or messes that we look at and wonder just how we got ourselves there, or how to dig our way back out. Frankly, we cannot do that alone. If you look at all the times you tried to dig your way out of a mess, I bet it would be safe to say the mess got worse or you didn’t stay out for long. That is because the root was never dealt with. I know you have probably heard before that you have to “dig it up by the root or its just gonna grow right back”. Well it’s true. We as inherent sinners, have all these roots, just like I listed above, such as anger, and we allow them to stay stuck down in us for years without being properly dealt with. Then one day an explosion happens that causes mass chaos in our lives and we look back wandering just what caused such a tumulus experience. It was a root that went unchecked.

Unchecked roots do not bear fruit. They fester and get gangrene. They poison everything else they touch and cause the good vines that are supposed to produced fruit in your life to whither and turn frail. Maybe it’s time for a good ole’ checkup!

Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branches, apart from me you can bear no fruit” in John 15:5. But if you back up to verse 1 he also says that “my Father is the gardener” which means He is going to till the garden and pull up the weeds by their ROOTS! It is a process that most of us know that does not mean ripping them up violently. It means pulling up the roots by the whole system in order for every piece of it to come up completely out of the ground so that nothing is left behind.

So are you in need of a good ole’ checkup? Are there roots in you that the Master Gardener needs to tend too today? If so, let Him. The process may not be pleasant, but it will be worth it!

Only the goodness of God needs to remain so that He can accomplish His works through you! You are a priceless gem, the clay on the potters wheel! Allow Him to complete His good works in you today!

Happy pulling!!!