EPHESIANS 3:17

...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,...

To Ponder……

Just like the parable of the wise-man who built his house on the rock, a plant needs a strong established root system to thrive. A well-rooted plant will absorb water and nutrients in the soil up into the plant for nourishment and it will also allow a plant to withstand wind, storm and all the weather elements that may challenge the plant in its environment. Therefore, being firmly rooted is critical for the plant to flourish.

In today’s verse, Paul asks in prayer that Christ dwells in our hearts.  Note, Christ is not being asked to hover around us on ‘stand-by’, or to be available ‘on-tap’ as we might have the need to engage with Him. Christ’s desired relationship with any faithful Christian is one of permanence. He wants to be invited into our hearts to take up permanent residence with us. (to dwell:  from the Greek meaning to remain in occupancy). 

Our Christian faith, which is nurtured by us being firmly rooted in God’s word and love, together with being firmly rooted via the love that we share with our fellow believers through our regular worship in our local congregation, is the foundation of our invitation to the Holy Spirit to permanently reside in our hearts. It should indeed be our desire for Christ to dwell within us as a permanent resident of our hearts. 

To be firmly rooted in God’s word and have Him dwelling in our hearts, allows us to continually draw from Him (like the plant absorbing its food sources). To be anchored firmly in His love, gives us stability and confidence to know that we have His support and that He will be with us through life’s storms and uncertain times in our earthly journey.

PRAYER: Loving Father. You desire strongly to dwell within my heart and live with me. I am sorry for the times when I am not hospitable and even withdraw the invitation to you. Nurture my own spiritual growth and faith so that I can stay firmly rooted in your word and love, enabling You to lead me daily into the scenarios where You need me to be to fulfil Your work through me.   Amen

Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping.