rooted & grounded

[From 8/9/10]

"I pray that... Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,a s you are being rooted & grounded in love."

(Ephesians 3:17)

What would it mean to be "rooted & grounded in love"?  If we were to think of a tree... it would be planted in love.  Love would be not only touching the trunk where it enters the ground, but would be well below, too.  Root systems of some trees run quite deep.  Being rooted means all of the nutrients & water comes through the love-soaked soil in and around the roots.  Likewise, what the tree becomes will be heavily shaped by love.  Heavily.

What an image for Christians.  That we may be rooted & grounded in love.  That love (to love or not to love) wouldn't be an "option" of ours to choose or reject.  No!  It would be everything about us!  We'd be surrounded in love so every nutrient, everything that shaped us and gave us energy would have at its core LOVE.  How would that change our interactions with others? What we did... or said... or thought?

How is this even possible?  The author of Ephesians says that Christ dwells in our hearts.  He is love.  He is THE CENTER of all.  That's being rooted & grounded. 

Bring it on!