Rooted by Holly Robertson
Colossians 2:6-7, “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.”
What comes to mind when you hear the word “worship”? Singing songs? Something you only do at church? Embarrassing? Too long? Too repetitive? I know that when I was growing up in church I would always wonder, why do we have to stand up and sing a few songs just to listen to the pastor give his message. But then as I got older, I realized worship was special and it was so much more than just songs that we sing at church. Worship was my response to who God is. It shifts our attention to God instead of ourselves. And it reminds us of His character and His goodness. It helps us know him.
An example that comes to mind for me is, how a plant will naturally grow towards the light. I think it works the same for us. As our hearts mature spiritually and we get to know Jesus more, we naturally want to lean towards the light. Meaning, we should want to spend time learning about Jesus and becoming more like him. Unfortunately, we have lots of other things around us that like to take our focus off of Jesus. It could be work responsibilities, kids, sports, school, friends or your spouse. All good things, but they should come after Jesus.
Ask yourself-
Do I have things that take my focus off of Jesus?
When I spend time in worship, does it help me refocus?
The more time we spend with Jesus, the deeper our roots grow. Why is this important? Well, the deeper our roots grow, the stronger we are able to stand when storms come. Worship strengthens the roots that we have grown through our day to day walk. It turns our attention to God and is a reminder that God is bigger than anything we might face. If you were to come to my house right now and take a good look at my house plants, you would be able to tell pretty quickly that they are most likely not standing in a storm. But if you look outside and the beautiful trees around us, it would be obvious that they would most likely withstand some pretty strong storms. Why would the trees survive a storm and not my house plants? Deep roots.
When life gets difficult, do you think you would be able to stand in the storm? Are your roots strong?
When life gets hard, usually we want to focus on the problem. But I want to encourage you to worship. Turn on your favorite worship music and just release it to the Lord. Doing this shifts our focus away from the problem and puts it on Jesus. It changes our perspective.
Acts 16: 25-26, “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!”
Paul and Silas were in prison and they still worshiped. Even when the ground started shaking, they worshiped. I am pretty sure that if an earthquake came, I would stop whatever I was doing and start panicking. But Paul and Silas focused on Jesus. And not only did that worship change their perspective, but it also freed them and everyone around them. The impact that your worship can have is massive. Don’t take that for granted. Your worship just might free someone else of their chains too.
You don’t have to just be in church to worship. In truth, your whole life should be worship. As you go through your day, your heart should be focused on Jesus. And when our hearts have the right focus, then every action and response reflects Jesus. Worship is a way to open our hands and give whatever we are facing to God. Every single moment our heart is focused on Jesus and in a posture of worship, it strengthens and grows our roots in Jesus. It builds trust with him. It lets peace, joy and love flow through as to show others who Jesus really is. Worship might not solve every problem but it is a good reminder that God is in control and he is not going to let us face life alone. Life does not have to look perfect for us to worship God. In fact, I would venture to say that the more we worship, the better our perspective is about what is happening in our life.
God created us to know him, love him and glorify him. Worship is what we were created for!
Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
Worship is not for our entertainment. It is to honor God. It is not for us to feel good and then move on to the next thing. It is to help us focus on him and let everything else be secondary. Worship is not about our favorite song or worship band. It is to give him all the glory. It’s not just singing. It’s praying, serving others, obeying God, reading scripture and living in a way that honors God.
What do your roots say about you? Are they strong and growing deeper or do they need some nourishment? Don’t be like my houseplants, with shallow roots. Spend time with Jesus and let your roots grow deeper and stronger all the time. Worship is one way to see your roots grow and to help us fulfill the purpose we were created for.
