Growing Rooted

Remember the story in Scripture of the two men who were building a house? One built his house on sand, and the other built his house on a rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and

Matthew 7:26-27

When we read this verse, we see that Jesus calls the man who built his house on the sand foolish. But even though he was called foolish, it doesn’t say he was evil, sinful, or wicked.

The Sand of Selfishness

The house represents our private life. If in our private life we refraining from sin, but build it on the sand of selfishness, we can still seemingly build a sturdy house. But, if a storm hits, one thing remains true, it will be destroyed. The devil’s goal is to cause you and I to sin. But if the devil can’t cause you to sin privately, he will try “plan B,” which is for your secret life to be full of yourself instead of the Holy Spirit. If you’re not sinning, but you’re also not hosting the Holy Spirit, you are still susceptible to the trap of the enemy by living a life full of busyness, focusing on the cares of this life, and on the deceitfulness of riches. The consequences of building you life on something that is not lasting, may not seem as bad as hiding sin, but its effect is not God’s perfect will for us. 

Read: Why Discipleship is Important

The Rock is Eternal

Now, the other man built his house on the rock. His foundation, which was invisible to the public, was deep and strong. In fact, it was so strong that when a storm came, the house endured.

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Matthew 7:24-25

I came across a perfect example of this a number of years ago. Here in Tri-Cities, where I live, we get really strong gusts of winds. They are often so strong that they knock a number of things over causing damage to cars and even homes. One time during a strong wind, the tree next to the trailer park where our church is located, toppled over. The tree fell down like a pencil being balanced on its tip. The roots were totally exposed and although they were extremely thick roots, they were terribly shallow. The tree was so big from the looks of it, but when the roots were exposed, they were so small in comparison to the size of the tree.

This is exactly what happens to us when we stop hiding sin, but choose to not replace that with intimacy withe the Holy Spirit. If we live shallow private lives, void of living in the Scriptures, or spending time with the Holy Spirit, then we will never deepen our roots and grow in true anointing–no matter how many years go by.

Roots grow deeper when they go lower into the ground. The same is true with us. When we grow roots in humility, we will grow deeper in the Holy Spirit.