December 29

Roots Down, Fruit Up

Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.

––2 Kings 19:30

It’s a reoccurring biblical motif: A seed is buried in the earth, breaks open in the darkness, fight its way upward through the soil into the light, receives nourishment, and then grows to become what God intended it to be. The seed is not the final state, but the beginning.

Likewise, who you are right now is not what God fully intends for your life. That’s not to say you haven’t lived a good life––committed to Him, surrendered to Christ. Perhaps you have. But no matter what you have—or have not—accomplished in this blink-of-an-eye event called “your life,” God has more.

Much more.

Just as the seed’s destiny is not to stay buried in the ground, so God’s destiny for you is not to stay buried in the darkness of disappointment, failure, or regret. Of course, nature’s seeds don’t have free will, whereas we do. Are we willing to die to ourselves and allow God to break us open, walk us through the dark places, so we might fully grow in His light?

Today’s verse references the prophecy the Lord gives to Isaiah: though the kingdom of Judah is struggling, I need to root it in Me once again so it might break the soil and bear fruit above. Jesus articulates this fruit-bearing process well:

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  ––John 12:23-24

Jesus said this as a prediction of His own death, burial, and resurrection. And so it is with us: We must die to our old life and old life so He can carry us through the darkness and bring us into His light.

What seeds still need to die within you? What is God telling you to surrender to Him? Man of God, open your hands and let it go.

Father, plant Your seeds of faith within me, and show me the things I still need to die to.