“So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.’” Isaiah 28:16
I’ve been thinking about roots lately. I don’t mean my ancestors, or an old mini-series. I mean tree roots. I recently saw a tree that was blown down in a high wind. It was a large tree, but I was struck by how small the roots were. At least the ones that came out of the ground when it fell. So either this big tree was hiding the fact that it had very small roots, or it wasn’t attached firmly enough to the big roots that would have held it in place. Then I saw a tree near a stream. The ground had eroded, leaving some of the roots bare. Because of that, I was able to see those long roots, stretching down quite far. Of course, not all the roots were exposed, but what must the impact be on a tree that has half the roots exposed?
All of this got me thinking of our spiritual roots. Again, I’m not talking about those who have gone before us in the faith. I’m talking about each one of us, individually. How deep do your roots go? How about mine? The interesting thing about both of the trees I observed was that the tops appeared very healthy. Lots of branches and green leaves. And yet they both had problems. One wasn’t attached firmly enough to its roots, the other was attached to roots that were being eroded away. The same can be true for us. We can appear spiritually healthy and fool others into thinking that everything is just fine. In fact, we can even have thriving ministries and still be dying a slow spiritual death on the inside.
This verse tells us that God has laid a cornerstone for us, a sure foundation on which to build our lives. We know that this foundation is Jesus Christ. Of course, the first step is to become attached to that foundation by accepting Christ as our Savior. After that, how do we stay attached? In fact, we should not only stay attached but become more and more firmly attached. How do we do that? There are the tried and true methods. Things like church involvement, Bible study, prayer and so forth. Every one of these is not just good, it’s essential to our spiritual growth. There are probably additional ways in which God speaks to you. for me, it’s through His creation. Time outdoors is very important for my spiritual health. I want to be clear: that does not replace any of the other ways to be close to Him. In other words, I’m not suggesting that it’s okay to take a walk in the woods instead of going to church. But God speaks to each of us in unique and individual ways and it’s a good idea to figure out what those ways are and practice them. That’s how we stay attached to the strong roots.
The problem is, many of these ways to become close to God can become gods in themselves. And that will erode our foundation. Your church may be a wonderful, Bible teaching church. But if your church is more important to you than your relationship with Christ, that will erode your foundation until your roots are exposed and in danger. Or if I ignore something God is telling me to do because I want to spend time in His creation to get closer to Him, I’m eroding the very foundation on which my faith is built. Here’s the good news: the foundation is still there. Even if we’ve drifted away from it or have realized we’ve been building on the wrong foundation, He’s still waiting for us to return to Him and make Him Lord of our life once again. When we do, He promises that we will never be dismayed. Does that sound too wonderful to be true? I understand. But I’m willing to try it. How about you?