Palm Trees

As I write this, I am in the Rio Grande Valley, as are many of my fellow full-timers this time of year. You can look in any direction at any time and see at least one Palm tree, usually many more. I heard an excellent sermon this past Sunday by our park Pastor, Rev. Lynn Williams, and I will never look at Palm trees the same way again.

I had just finished writing last week in my book about the concept of being "planted in the house of the Lord" as expressed in Psalm 92. Pastor Williams used this same text for his sermon and his theme was comparing the person who is rooted in Jesus Christ to a Palm tree that is able to grow tall, and survive the challenge it faces. Having been a missionary to Panama, he was quite familiar with the various kinds of Palm trees, and pointed our the many ways that they are beneficial to society. Pastor Lynn reminded me and the other listeners that the roots of the Godly person are in Jesus Christ.

We often talk about roots, and we full-timers are often looked down on for not having any. So I looked up "roots" in the "Strong’s Concordance" and here are a few interesting passages of scripture I thought I would like to share:

"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." (Colossians 2: 6-7 NLT)

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19 NLT)

Our roots are to be in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As He makes His home in our hearts, we will be strong and grow in Him, and will be able to live in His power and His strength. We will be to "experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully."

Even as the Palm tree grows full and straight and strong, and benefits many, so can we be when our roots are in Jesus.

Thanks for spending this moment with me today.