The book of Psalms opens with a picturesque contrast between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are compared to a beautiful and fruitful tree firmly planted by streams of water while the wicked are like chaff driven and tossed by the wind. At first glance, we might think the primary difference between the two is in their outward appearance. Not so, the chief distinction between the two is in what lies beneath the surface. Unfruitfulness in a child of God is not so much the result of what happens on the outside as it is what is happening on the inside.
In reference to spiritual growth, we must have roots before we can enjoy fruit. Long ago, the prophet spoke of the surviving remnant of God’s people and promised that “the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward” (Is. 37:31). That is how things work in the vineyard of the Lord. God’s word is planted in the human heart and, like a seed, it germinates and grows. But the success of the young plant is not determined so much by what is seen above the soil as what takes place underneath the soil. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus mentioned seed which has been planted in rocky, shallow soil. The result had all the appearance of being healthy, thriving plants; but, “when the sun had risen, they were scorched…because they had no root…[and] withered away” (Mt. 13:6).
If we want to grow spiritually, we will need to give primary attention to what is happening on the inside—that is, we will need to look at our roots. The people to whom Isaiah wrote his letter had become spiritual lightweights. They were about to be blown away by the judgment of God. He said their root had become rotten and their blossom was about to be carried away like dust by the wind. Then, he explains, “For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the Holy One of Israel” (Is. 5:24). Our roots must be solidly grounded in the word of God. God’s word supplies us with the necessary nutrients for living a fruitful and productive life (Mt. 4:4; 2 Tim. 3:17). Too many have sought spiritual strength and productivity in the philosophies and strategies of men only to be disappointed with spiritual malnutrition and barrenness. Why not, instead, drink deeply of Christ and His word? It is when we are firmly rooted on the inside that we are “built up in Him and established in [our] faith…” (Col. 2:7). Only then, will we “bear much fruit, and so prove to be [His] disciples” (Jn. 15:8). Living without roots in Christ and His word makes us spiritual lightweights. As such we have no anchor to hold us in place when the storms of life come against us. Instead, we will be carried aloft by the wind until such time as we can be gathered together with all the other unfruitful branches in God’s kingdom and burned in the fire of God’s judgment. Think root and then fruit!
–Glen Elliott–