My paternal grandmother had an artistic gift and could paint the most beautiful landscape pictures. I think that gift must skip a generation because I cannot paint or draw more than stick people. I am always so blown away by people who do paint especially when it turns out to be something recognizable to others.
A friend of mine surprised me yesterday with her artistic talent. We were at church and she was painting this beautiful landscape scene with a tree being the centerpiece. It was stunning. The tree had this elaborate root system that was deep and far reaching. The root structure was much larger than the tree itself. The tree was beautiful. It wasn’t symmetrical nor did all of the limbs appear to be perfectly straight or in alignment.
When I asked her about the picture, she said it was a symbolic picture of how we were to be in Christ. Our root structure had to be deep and far reaching in order to survive the storms of life. It immediately made me think of the parable of the seed and the sower in Matthew 13…
Matthew 13:1-9 “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop– a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Matthew 13: 18-23 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Make sure your heart is fertile soil so you can receive all the Lord has for you and then you will have a deep, intricate root system and thrive.