Text: Isa.37:31, Col.2:7 (NLT)
Isa 37:31
And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
Col.2:7
Let your root grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in flow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
In the growth of a plant or tree, the root is very important – Advance Learners Dictionary defines “root as the part of the plant that grow under the ground and absorbs water and minerals that it sends to the rest of the plant”. This definition show the importance of the root to the growth and existence of the tree. ‘Because nutrients are actually received from the root’.
Today, we want to look at three different rooted trees and draw lessons from them.
Palm Tree ———
———- These grouped together deeply rooted but very flexible
Iroko tree ———
BANANA TREE
FRUIT TREE
—- The bark
Palm Tree – is an all round useful tree —————– —- Leaves
—- Fruit
—- Root
Iroko tree – Tall and also has deep root useful for furniture and can easily be compromised in the African context.
Their roots are deep and allow for flexibility. Flexibility in terms of handling challenges. They are flexible in the hands of the Holy Spirit, flexibility makes for humility and once they humble themselves in the hands of the Holy Spirit God gives grace to stand. Just like the palm tree because of it deep root, when the wind blows or storm rages all it does is just bows and allows them to pass.
E.g Esther – A Jew, part of the covenant came to the kings Harem – Humble herself in the hands of Hegai the Eunuch in charge of the kings Harem and the preparation before she could see the king took 1years. Esther 2:12 For Esther the preparation she went through mirrored the importance of the visit. Preparation – (taking root deep) and transformation -(it is a process and it takes time) led to elevation and a passage to purpose. The first issue for Esther and the first issue for any of us who want intimacy with divinity is our incompatibility with the glory of the king. – Incompatibility is rooted in who we are – Our peasant best is not suitable for the palace of his presence.
* Esther was not acceptable as she was, this is not because she was unclean or smelled badly, but simply because her best wasn’t good enough for the king. Esther 2: 2-4. Most of us want to be more and live better than we do at the moment but are you willing to go through it – preparation taking root deep in Christ?
* It was not beauty that got her the throne but a secret humility and preparation. It is your depth that determines your placement in life
· We could safely say for her that she stooped to conquer – humility in your life will attract the grace of God
-Jas.4:6, 1Pet.5:5-6.
Her roots were deep because she had been taught by Mordecai. In humbling herself, she because the queen in place of Vashti
Iroko Tree e.g Rahab – she was not originally a part of the covenant but she heard what the Lord had done to the nations around and she humbled herself and believed in the God of Israel and was engrafted into the covenant Ruth on the other hand was a Moabite – they were not supposed to come into the congregation of the people of God but she had seen something about this God in the life of Naomi and she humble herself, left her people and nation and joined herself to the God of Israel and we all know what God made of her. Someone once said. “The way up is down”.
God is still able to do the same with any one today. Neither of these women prided themselves with what they have and God made them pillars in his plan Ps.144:12b. * It is not about your background but what you are willing to Let God make you.
Banana Tree – this has a special root system which can either be positive or negative in its working for the tree. No matter how you cut the banana tree, if you don’t uproot the root, it will spring forth again – it fits well the description in Job 14:7-9, if there are certain things in your life that you refuse to deal with and you just cut of the branches, when the conditions become favorable they spring forth and challenge you.
God cut the covenant with Abraham that He was going to bless the world through him. This was in order to fulfill Gen.3:15 – the devil is out to corrupt the seed in order to prevent or rather scuttle the redemption plan – he came with a suggestion – look at the servant girl Hagar – by He time Sarah came up with it the fell for it. In Isaac the seed could have been compromised but for God that intervened Jacob – it multiplied by four.
The devil was still after the seed he felled and dealt with Reuben and the next two so the scepter fell on Judah and the devil never gives up. The devil does not tempt you in your area of strength but your weakness. Genesis 38:1 He went down and in verse 12 he was still fraternizing with Hirah Judah had to go for a prostitute and then the children of Israel had to wait for 10 generation before Judah can produce a king. * What we fail to deal with in our lives can cause serious delays, thereby prolonging the journey. Even before David came as the king the crave for women was also present in his father. Records show that David was not of same mother with his
In David it had taken root so much that at the sighting of Abigail (which can be likened to the scent of water it sprang forth and he took her in after the death of her husband same for Bathsheba it also sprang forth and he took her.
· What does this tell us. Those things that easily beset us, we should take note of them (Heb.12:1-2) begin to deal with the even before the situation arises. Don’t’ ever claim to be strong on your own to handle the situation. (let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest he falls)
FRUT TREE -This speaks of the various fruit trees i.e, Mango, almond, Neem e.t.c – They have deep root as a matter of fact, you even see their root spread all over the place as in the case of the mango tree. (This speaks of knowledge of the word of God. – but the thought of these knowledge makes them compromise their root (1Cor.8:1) – They are not humble there is no humility in them – so when the wind blows and the storms comes instead of bowing to let it pass, they stand up to it thinking they know and can handle it by so doing part of them breaks and your see them lying on the road.
They can conquer all and in the process they undergo leprosy – {losing of body parts gradually)- A good example of this from the scriptures is the life of Samson. There was never a record in the bible that Samson prayed but after he lost his eyes he prayed. Don’t wait until you lose your body part before you know to humble yourself.
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