Rooted in love

Matthew 13 : 1 - 9

Other seeds fell on good soil....

This passage has been preached on many times - as a reminder to allow God's word to find a good soil in our hearts and give rise to a harvest. As I think about this again today, I am reminded about Paul's prayer for the Ephesians where he asks that they may be "rooted and established in love".

To be rooted in the Word means also to be rooted in God's great love. The whole purpose of man is to praise, reverence and serve the God who created us out of love.

I was reminded of this the other day when I watched a video of Henri Nouwen's life. In it, there were readings from his books. In particular the theme of being God's beloved stood out. And he was filmed saying with much enthusiasm and conviction that God is the one who loved us before we came to be, and the one who will continue to love us for all eternity. This is so even if we are incapable of doing anything for him. Being rooted in God's love was truly the message that turned the gospel from a set of beliefs to a living and relational truth for me. People might say that like Henri, I have a great need for affirmation. But then, I believe every does long, in their heart of hearts for a love that surpasses the best other human persons can offer. This is a love we know deep in our hearts, but sometimes, in fact very often it is drowned out by many other messages we pick up along the way - that we need to earn it, that we are not worthy enough etc. Sadly, the church sometimes magnifies the problem by proclaiming a message of power and glory. There must be many who cringe in their pews because their lives do not match up to the 'ideal' Christian. We really do not know how to deal with the weaker, those who know their vulnerabilites in a way that helps them grow deeply rooted in God's love.

People fall away when the Word does not go deep into their lives. They fall away because the love of God has not found its way into their fragile, broken spirits.