The tree that wouldn't die

The home that we're living in was built and completed one week before Christmas four years ago. That was a tough year, we were living in a rental home in Charlotte Harbor that summer and found our family right in the eye of Hurricane Charley that day in August.

Like most new homes the builder is required to plant a certain number of trees on each home lot. We faithfully watered those trees believing that they would make it. Winter came and the leaves fell off and to be honest we weren't as faithful watering them as we should plus the rains slowed down.

Spring came and the leaves never came back , so my husband, Keith proceeded to cut them down to the ground. This past summer, we noticed shoots coming up from the roots where two of the trees had been. I asked Keith to please not mow them down and they are doing quite well!

The scripture in Psalms 1 speaks about a man being rooted and grounded. Verse 3 says, "He is a like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."

Apparently these two tree's roots went down deep and took hold because they are growing and producing. They have leaves and one day they will be majestic oak trees providing shade and homes to birds and other wildlife.

It's important that we be rooted and grounded. A man recently attended our church and the first thing he said to me is that he attends 10 - 15 churches a month, like it was a badge of honor or something! He hops from one church to another. This blew me away a bit! To be honest I was offended too!

This scripture came to me about how we need to be rooted and grounded not only in our relationship with Christ, but in our attendance of where we worship to become involved and make a difference in the body of Christ. Not just to pick and choose where we worship because we like the worship here and we like the preaching there. Believers that hop from one church to the next I believe are selfish and in it only for themselves and not thinking about what they can offer to the body. It's all about them and what they can get. How sad!

What would happen if you bought a beautiful Gardenia bush, which I just love the flowers from them and you uprooted it every week? Duh, it would die. It would never have a chance to take root and you would never be blessed by it's fruit- the lovely aroma of it's flower.

I mentioned to my daughter this weekend about those oak trees that there was a lesson here. The rest of the scripture in verse three says, "Whatever he does prospers".

We didn't dig up those stumps or roots and they are faithful now doing what trees do. They are producing! How simple is that? as Rachael Ray would say.

Get rooted and grounded and become fruitful!