TUESDAY 24th
Ephesians 3:14-21
NIV (v17) – ‘. . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love . . .’
ESV (v17) – ‘. . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love . . .’
1) That they may be strengthened with power (v16)
2) That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (v17)
3) That they may be rooted and grounded in love (17-18)
4) That they may know the love of Christ and the fulness of God (v19)
5) That all the glory goes to the Lord Jesus (v20-21)
That they may be rooted and grounded in love – after being strengthened with power, Paul wants the believers to be rooted and grounded in love.
As we have been attempting to sort out and landscape our garden, we have discovered that it is full of rubbish, rubble and weeds, and so a lot of work has gone into clearing it ready for planting, but then we have discovered that a lot of the soil is not the very best, and I wanted to plant some rose bushes. The roses had been ordered and I wanted to make sure they would have the best start I could give them, they need to be rooted into something that would help them to grow, mature, develop and hopefully bloom well next year, so I went to get a bag of manure, and as I planted each one I made sure that they were well rooted into it.
It is not a good illustration to consider love like manure! But it gives the picture, without the manure the roses would probably not grow and mature, for the manure is full of goodness and nutrients, it is just what the roses need.
Paul wants the believers to be rooted and grounded well, and the best manure for this is love, love has all the right ingredients to help establish us in our faith, remember the famous chapter of Paul where we see the potential of love if we are willing to be rooted and grounded in it. ‘Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.’ (1 Corinthians 13:4–8). Love is the manure that is needed in the local Church setting, to enable the members to be rooted and grounded not only in Christ but also together. ‘Blessed be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love’
‘Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.’ (1 Peter 4:8)
‘Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.’ (1 Thessalonians 4:9)
While I have been preparing this devotion, spell checker has incorrectly been trying to correct some of my spelling (I know I do make a few mistakes and don’t always spot them before I send the devotions out) Twice as I have wanted to type the word rooted it has changed it to rotted! I had to smile because that is exactly what happens if something is not rooted well, it rots! I hope when next spring comes, I do not find that my roses have rotted, I hope they will have rooted. May we ensure that we are rooted well so that we do not rot! Blooming well because of the love of Christ, blooming so well that folk around will see the difference that being grounded in the love of Christ makes in a person’s life.