Spring 2023 has sprung in Broken Arrow, OK

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Roots

My folks had a love for Redwood trees.  They planted a small shoot – most likely from a burl they purchased at the gift shop at Richardson Grove State Park in northern California – in the back yard of our new home, back in the early 1960’s.  Through the years it grew to become a towering majestic masterpiece that quickly became the central point of the yard.  Many a yard party, family gatherings, and just plain old fun times were spent in the shadow of that tree.  I recently came across some pictures in an old photo album that displayed images from my wife’s and my wedding rehearsal dinner that was celebrated in the shade of that tall Coast Redwood.

A few years after my wife and I had married, my folks began to get a little concerned about the possibility of the tree falling down during a winter storm.  They finally gave in to the nagging thought, and much to my sorrow, they had the tree cut down, although they did not have the stump removed.  Well, wouldn’t you know!  Within a short period of time they had two smaller renditions of the tree growing out from that stump!  Over the ensuing years up to the present time, those two shoots have grown until they both tower over the house and have resumed the place as the centerpiece of the yard.
Coast Redwoods are some of the oldest living and tallest trees in the world.  But they differ a little from other trees in that they have a shallow root system given the great height of their canopies.  They have no tap root and have other roots that may reach no deeper than 6-12 feet.  The major roots are about one inch in diameter and typically spread out horizontally for approximately 50 – 80 feet.  In the Redwood forests the trees grow close together, intermingling their root systems, which gives them the ability to stand and grow for hundreds of years!
So why all this info about Redwood Trees?  Well, I came across a couple of scriptures this morning that talked about the need for Christians to “Sink your roots in him…” (Colossians 2:7 God’s Word ©) and all my love for Redwoods with their unique qualities and beauty popped into my mind!  The idea of my roots intermingling with His, to the point that they become one and the same is vividly represented at the sight of a majestic grove of Redwoods.
There is a tree that fell many years ago at Richardson Grove State Park, where we went camping just about every summer when I was young, that is now a display piece on one of the many self-guided hikes in the park.  One of the park’s historians had tagged the naturally occurring yearly rings on a cross section of the tree’s stump with the descriptions of many of the important historical events that occurred when the tree was still standing.  The only one that I remember was a notation near the center of the tree that marked a time when King Charlemagne (742-814), the emperor of Europe, had won a major battle!   If I recall correctly, that tree had come down during a winter storm in the late 1950’s or early 60’s.  To say the least, it had stood for a long time!
That is the same kind of stability that we, as believers in the Lord Jesus, can have as we continuously sink our roots into His!  As we become one with Him, we are established on a foundation that cannot be “driven with the wind and tossed” (James 1:16 KJV)  Take a moment and think about how many winter storms, hot summers, and various floods that frequent the northern California Redwood Grove areas that that tree withstood over the hundreds of years that it reached it majestic canopy toward the heavens!
Now, compare that to all the storms, dry seasons and floods in your own life that you have and will continue to successfully live through in Christ.  In Him, you have a well-founded, unshakeable root system that gives you the ability to keep on - keeping on - no matter what may come across your path in this life!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

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