sinking roots

Colossians 2

6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord,

     you must continue to obey him.

7 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.


8 Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense

     that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world,

     rather than from Christ.

9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ,

     who is the head over every ruler and authority.



"Let your roots grow down into him,  & let your lives be built on him. "

So how do we let our "roots grow down into him"?

Read the Bible every day.

Why?

Because it is God speaking to us.

Wouldn't it make sense that if we believe the Bible is the Word of God, then it would be a little stupid NOT to read it?!


Of course, I was pretty stupid for 52 1/2 years.


Ya see, until I was 52 1/2, my Bible reading could best be described as higgledy piggldy.

Yeah, I'd been a "professional Christian for almost 30 years. (iow, a church staff person)

It all started in January, 2003.


In the first few days of 2003,I started waking up at 5am - not just waking up, but HELLO! I'M AWAKE!

Now you must understand, I LOVE to sleep, especially in the early morning hours.

This went on for a couple of weeks.

I asked Lynn, my wife, what she thought was going on - she's a nurse practitioner.

She said, "maybe God's trying to tell you something."

So, the next morning, when I woke up @ 5am, I said,"God are you trying to tell me something?"

I heard inside my head, "Get up & read."

I knew that was the Bible He was talking about.

So I got up & read Psalm 1 - I'd heard Billy Graham reads a psalm every day - I figured if it was good enough for Billy, it was good enough for me ;-)

And I read somewhere in New Testament.

And I've been getting up every day & reading the Bible ever since. I don't remember the last time I didn't get up. Boy! Am I holy, or what?!!! LOL

Btw, I've expanded my reading. I read a psalm every day, I read a chapter in the Old Testament, the Gospels, & in the New Testament - just 4 chapters - nothing more.

And I write down every day in a journal at least where I've read, bc I can't remember from day to day exactly where I've read. And I write down anything that may stand out on the page, too.


Of course, God started messing with me.

An He messed in the very last areas of me that I wanted Him to mess with.

And He ain't stopped messing with me.

And after He started messing with me (& I started letting Him change me), He started telling me to do things - things I would NEVER of chosen to do.

They were scary things, things I didn't think I could do, & things that were pretty risky.

But I kept saying yes - my life's been pretty crazy ever since.


And I wouldn't have it any other way.


So, read the Bible every day.

Warning: God will wreck you.

He will change you.

He will challenge you to be & do things that are scary & seemingly impossible.

And you will connect with Him on a very basic, intimate level - yeah, you & I, nano-specks in the cosmos, can connect with God on an intimate level each day by just reading the Bible every day.


Trust me, if you do it for 6 weeks, you'll never stop.

And you'll never be the same.