Life after death?

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)

One who follows must do so continually, otherwise they will end up lost, off-course, and a little disoriented. As many times as we 'start well', do we 'finish well'? Not likely - many 'courses of action' stand abandoned over the course of time because it was too hard, too boring, or just didn't produce what we hoped to see when we took that particular course. The 'right course', started out 'well', won't produce the 'best' end results until we commit to the process of seeing it through!

Roots take a while to develop, but once they are established it is hard for the tree to die. Case in point - I had a diseased tree in the backyard that had been there about thirty years. It looked good some days, with leaves green in the spring and then waning over the course of the summer. I suspected it had 'inner damage' caused by ants or some other disease. In a recent windstorm, the very top branched broke, crashing to the ground and narrowly avoiding doing damage to the structures around it. It was still not evident that the tree was diseased, but there was definitely a suspicion that something was amiss.

After the landscaper took it down to the ground, it became apparent that there was a large hole in the center of the tree, effectively weakening it from the inside out. After nearly six months without the tree, the stump is beginning to sprout again! The roots were so well established that it could still produce growth, even when the greatest 'assault' that could happen had occurred! Roots find their way and when they do, there is no stopping that growth!

We may not think the regular daily reading of God's Word is producing anything within us, but the tiniest 'root growth' is occurring each time we take it in. Those roots will eventually grow deeper, stronger, and more 'interconnected' with the 'life source' our life requires. The depth of our relationship with Jesus may not appear like much on the surface, but those roots will maintain life long after some may declare us dead! Just sayin...