Roots

 This is a Strangler Fig tree in the Rain Forest of eastern Australia. Beneath the root network you see a host tree that will die because the roots of the Fig will eventually "strangle" it. The fig seeds are actually deposited in the canopy of the rain forest by birds. They could never grow if planted in the soil because they would receive no sunlight there. As the sun shines on them, they reach heavenward and begin to send their roots over a hundred feet down to the forest floor, drawing nutrients from their host as they travel, so their roots can become strong and healthy. This is a process that takes hundreds of years, but happens only because nature places within that fig seed an unquenchable desire to grow and survive. It instinctively knows that, without roots, it will perish. Here is the message God gave to the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 17, regarding our roots...

“But I will bless anyone who trusts in me.

    I will do good things for the person who depends on me.

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They will be like a tree planted near water.

    It sends out its roots beside a stream.

It is not afraid when heat comes.

    Its leaves are always green.

It does not worry when there is no rain.

    It always bears fruit.”

Think about the roots of your children. Without spiritual roots their journey will not end with an eternal reward. Sometimes they grow, in spite of our failure to help them find roots and, like the Strangler Fig, they will find their way to the soil that will nourish them, providing a way for them to grow in their faith even if they are not planted by the Water of which Jeremiah speaks. But, as parents, the spiritual well-being of our children is our responsibility. Leaving that to chance, we are doing no better than planting bird excrement at the top of a rain forest and hoping for the best.

True concern for the spiritual well-being of our children means we are constantly cultivating the soil around them to help their roots grow. Planting them by the Water means we are essentially giving them constant access to the Source of goodness and godliness. We are instructing them, reading to them, growing in faith ourselves so that we are naturally seeing all the teachable moments that occur daily. We are being an example to them as we walk with Jesus in our daily life.

My prayer is that you are tending the soil of your child's soul, exposing them constantly to the Son; drenching them in the Spirit of God living in you; pruning them so that they will grow and bear fruit in their lives.