The more I read the New Testament, the more I find that passion is an essential element of discipleship. Without passion, our faith could be seriously questioned.
Psalm 1 gives us an excellent image of what it means to be deeply rooted, to be spiritually passionate. In verse 3, the psalmist says:
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
This image of a tree is a perfect illustration of what it means to develop passion in our lives. The roots have to go deep, or there can be no production of fruit. In this psalm, the tree is planted strategically next to a stream of water, and it is rooted deeply enough to receive the nourishment it needs, and to prevent it from being easily uprooted.
This is exactly what we need to do in our lives. Passion and discipleship require us to be both strategic and solid in where we plant ourselves.
I must place myself strategically within easy reach of the source of life. Just as the tree is planted next to the water, I must be within easy reach of the water of life. This means consistent daily time spent in the Word of God. This means developing spiritual disciplines within my life that can help me stay connected to the source of that life giving nourishment.
But it is also worth noting that the tree is firmly planted there. It is deeply rooted. A shallow root system will be easily uprooted with the first hard winds that blow. And life tends to blow some pretty hard winds frequently. We can be moving along just fine when suddenly, something occurs that hits us pretty hard. It could be the loss of a loved one, a diagnosis we don’t want to hear, the rebellion of a child, and more. The list is endless.
At such times, if we are not rooted deeply enough in our spiritual lives, we will be blown over, just like a shallowly rooted tree.
Finally, a deeply and strategically rooted tree will produce good fruit. In John 15, Jesus describes how someone who is connected to the source, to him, will produce much fruit, and quality fruit. Jesus stated something very similar in Matthew 7, where he makes it very clear that we will be known by the fruit that we bear.
So, if we would bear a lot of fruit, good fruit, we must be strategically and deeply rooted into the source of life. We must be intentional about our discipleship.
We must pursue passion.
Question: What do you do to help you stay rooted to the source of life? What can you do better? You can leave a comment by clicking here.