Run Deep

​How you ever wondered why some professing Christians prosper in tough times while others do not? Why are some believers in Christ fruitless and others fruitful when life heats up?
 
It might have something to do with who we trust and put our confidence in during challenging times.
 
Jeremiah has a timely word for us during testing times.
 
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. For he 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!” Jeremiah 17:7-8
 
The weeping prophet knew something about tough times. His nation was in exile, enduring brutal captivity. Poverty and lack oppressed God’s once prosperous people. The Jewish nation was morally bankrupt and spiritually lost. Israel’s leaders had turned their backs on God.
 
Life’s heat had turned up. Spiritual drought had dried up the hearts of the people. How could they not only survive, but thrive under such conditions?
 
Jeremiah taught a spiritual lesson about roots and fruit. He encouraged his discouraged compatriots by contrasting the man who is cursed with the one who is blessed.
 
Verses 5-6 describe the cursed, fruitless man. He turns from the Lord and trusts in man. His spiritual roots are shallow because his confidence is in “the flesh.” He is like a solitary, withered bush in the wilderness. Stony, salty waste places suck life out of his shallow roots. Eventually a shallow rooted plant will die!
 
When prosperity comes, he will not see it. Why? His roots do not run deep in God.
 
The blessed man in verses 7-8 trusts God. His confidence is not in the flesh, but the spirit. He is like a vivacious, healthy, green tree planted by water whose roots extend deep into a life-giving stream. When the sun bears down, this man has no fear. His leaves remain green. He never stops yielding a harvest of fruit.
 
The blessed man is fearless and worry-less when life heats up because his roots run deep in God.
 
So which person are you? Blessed or cursed? Drought and dry seasons (spiritual, emotional, relational and economic) are part of life. It is a fact of physical and spiritual life that drought reveals how deep our roots really are.
           
When life dries up, men who trust in men burn out, burn up and bear no fruit. Life is fruitless and unfulfilling when shallow roots dry up. The person who trusts in the Lord is continually refreshed and bears abundant fruit in every season of life. Deep roots are not affected by the scorching heat. The blessed man who is deeply rooted and grounded in the love of God (see Ephesians 3:17) produces godly fruit despite and during trying times.
 
If you want to be blessed, run your trust roots deep in God.
 
Our roots are not running deep enough if….
 

• We are tempted to look to man to meet our needs.
• We are shaken by the shaking going on around us.
• We quote the word of men more than we quote the Word of God
• We worry about what the world worries about
• We attempt to do what only God can do for us.

 
How are your spiritual roots? Do they run deep in the Lord? Are they deep enough to withstand whatever life’s winds blow your way? Will you be fruitless or fruitful during this time of spiritual, moral, racial, economic and political upheaval in our nation?
 
How about your family? Are your family’s spiritual roots driven deep into the bedrock of Jesus Christ? Is your family foundation built on the Rock, so that your family’s spiritual house will not fail or fall when life’s storms come crashing against you? (Matthew 7:24-27).
 
Need to deepen your roots? Turn away from men and turn to the Lord. Go to the Word. Soak up God’s promises and principles. Pray about your needs. Trust God to meet every one of them. Spend time with deep-rooted Christians who will encourage you in your faith. Thank God for being with you every day of your life.
 
Roots and fruit……. both matter during these turbulent times.
 
Drive your spiritual roots deep into the soil of God’s Word. Let your life be watered with the deep, living water of the Holy Spirit. Then you will walk fearlessly through this time and bear fruit that will amaze men.
 
“The wicked desires the booty of evil men; but the root of the righteous yields fruit.”                                                                                                                                Proverbs 12:2
 
 “A man will not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will not be moved.”                                                                                                  Proverbs 12:3
 
“He who believes in me as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. This He spoke of the Holy Spirit who those who believed in Him would receive…”                                                                                    John 7:38-39
 
A Word For Your Week: Run deep in Christ to keep fruitful in life.