2-9-2019

Good Morning All,

            Hosea 14:5; “I will be like dew to the people of Israel.  They will blossom like flowers.  They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon.”

     Have you ever tried to pull or dig a bush out of the ground?  It always seems to be an easy proposition.  The thing may look dead; it hasn’t produced even a bud let alone a flower or fruit for years yet, when you try to pull it up, it will tear up half the lawn and then the roots will start to come back year after year.  While you or I thought the plant was completely dead; it wasn’t.  It may simply have been dormant or waiting out an infestation or a drought of some type.  It had a store of food and it was rooted deep and it was rooted firmly. 

    Scriptures tells us we are to be the same way when it comes to our faith.  We are to be like a tree planted by the waters with roots down deep trusting in God’s grace and mercy to see us though.  God’s Word and sacraments nourish us and sustain us.  Even in our lives; when we feel that we are in the greatest of droughts; God gives us the faith to pull through.  It is still a drought; it still gives us pain but God sees us through.  When we are rooted deep in the Lord, we will survive.  The roots which we have because of faith will hold us secure.  The world may cause parts of us to be damaged but we will survive.  Our faith is established and because of it we can live a life of thanksgiving.

     Too often we see each day as a lifetime.  What occurs in one day, we see as forever; yet it is only one day just a fraction of our life and an infinitesimal part of our eternal existence.  God looks at you and sees a child that he loves for eternity.  God laid the foundation of the earth after He prepared heaven for you.  We should give thanks for this and all of God’s blessings on us.  Most we take for granted; we don’t see them as gifts to be thankful for but as something we deserve.  God’s grace leads us on.  He keeps us rooted by faith in the living waters which flow from his mercy and nourishes us with his grace.

    I have been told that the mass of the tree root is greater than the mass of the part of the tree that is above ground.  This is why those massive trees can withstand droughts, winds, snowstorms or any of a myriad of events.  The roots run deep and strong.  We are rooted in Christ, by faith, so we can live the life that God gives to us.  A life that may have its challenges and its pains but a life that is rooted in the promise of life eternal with Him in heaven.

    Christ then nourishes this tree with his Word and with his Spirit.  His Word comforts us and proclaims to us the great promises which God speaks to his people through this Word.  His Spirit is there to help us to remember these promises and to place our hope in them.  He causes us to be fed, comforted and rooted firmly in His grace so we may remain strong until He returns.

     Father of all good gifts, we know that your will is done with or without us; yet you have given us the blessings of prayer.  We ask you to send your Spirit of comfort to those who are in pain and to those who are lost.  Keep us firmly rooted in Your Word always trusting in your promise.  All this we boldly ask in the Name of Jesus, Our Lord,  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret