Diamond Column #2

Did you know that however big of a tree’s trunk and branches you see, there’s that much of the tree’s roots underground? So if a tree is 10 feet tall, its roots go 10 feet deep. 100 feet tall, 100 feet deep. You get the idea. Well, going off that, I learned a pretty neat analogy this summer that I’d like to share with you.

Tree #1- You’re not feeling over-stressed or anything. You’re actually probably feeling pretty content with your life. You’re pretty busy with studying, friends, and other stuff, but at least you go on your annual serve trip and help out in church nursery. That’s your branches. That’s what others see of you. But now let’s take a look at your root system. You go to church on Sunday, you try to catch some chapel or Praise & Worship at least every once in a while, and you try to read a quick devotional every night. See a correlation? Small root system; small tree.

Tree #2-  You’ve read the Bible and other books about being “radical” so you’re stretching yourself as much as possible to do great things for Christ. You try to get involved in as many things as possible. You really do enjoy loving God through loving others, but sometimes you wonder if you’re doing something wrong. Is life always going to be this stressful or am I eventually going to get it figured out and settle down? The disciples never had any time to rest, did they? Well, now let’s look at the root system. You’re not really spending a whole lot of quality time with just you and God because you’re so busy doing stuff for Him. You know there’s importance in daily prayer and Bible times, but maybe sometimes you find yourself rationalizing that as long as you’re doing “Christian” things, that counts as your God-time for the day.

Tree #3- Small tree, big root system. You don’t have a whole lot of extra stuff goin’ on right now. You’re feeling pretty good about maintaining academics, extracurricular, and other relationships, but because your root system is so deep in God’s love, you find yourself consistently wishing there was more you could do. You know that God has filled you with His love and power to do great things in His name, but you can’t seem to find any open doors.

Can you all guess what the final tree would look like? Firmly rooted in God’s love, spending quality and consistent time with Him, and as a result, you find you have even more time and desire to be Jesus to others. As you spend more time with Him, He gives you more of His heart and His desire to do great things for His kingdom above other things. I know what tree I’d like to be. How about you? Let’s try praying the words of Paul in Ephesians 3:16-20. (Look it up J) and see where that takes us.