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OUR SOURCE
We all have a family tree,
what is the source of our tree?
Look at a tree in the natural--an oak
tree. In
doing study on the tree, we find if the tree is 40’ tall the tap root
is 40’ deep. The tap root runs from the center of the tree
downward as
straight as possible, from the tap shoots smaller roots and from these
come yet smaller roots and so on until the roots are like hair.
(Thus being “hair roots.”)
The tap root grows toward the source of
water,
normally an underground river, spring, or ground water. The other
roots grow outward in all directions with all the little hair roots
sourcing for minerals, (the food source) these roots grow out to the
edge or the leaves line, above which is called the canopy. In
other words, the roots of the tree will look like the tree above the
ground without the leaves--width times height above ground as
well as below ground.
Some trees are different than others,
like the
Maple--it is a beautiful and colorful shade tree, without a tap
root. So
if you live in an area with a lot of storms or high winds you may want
to plant the Maple in a protective area. It can be blown over
very easily, the larger it gets the greater the risk for destruction.
An Oak, on the other hand, has that deep
tap root
and will never be blown over--it may be broken or snapped in two, but
not blown over. It has the anchor needed to stay grounded.
Can you see where I’m going with
this? When a
storm comes, high winds, hail, maybe even a tornado the beautiful Maple
can easily be blown over and will have to be destroyed, its usefulness
is over. The Oak may lose leaves and branches, it may even get
hit directly with a tornado and be twisted in two, but the root system
is still there and doing just fine. After the storm clean
up, the Oak’s existing trunk
connected to the tap root will begin to sprout new life. The
Maple has been toppled over with it’s roots high
in the air, being exposed to the sun and not able to get and retain
moisture needed to survive.
Jesus used parables like this quite
often to draw
pictures or have visuals. They didn’t have overheads or white
boards then, but neither do I so parables are good.
Now let's move backwards through the
growth process
of the tree from the leaves to the water source. Leaves are
children, branches are Mom, trunk/tap root is Dad, and who is the
source of all the life? The underground river--Jesus is the
source or also known as the head, that is what the word "head" means,
"source"
Dad, the tap root/trunk, is the anchor
of the
family. Mom, the branches, is where the children/leaves are
produced. The children are the fruit or seeds just hanging
around waiting to move on to start new life. Some trees have to
be shaken to get the fruit to fall to the ground and start new life.
Fathers are directly under Jesus, I
didn’t set this
up God did, so if the women are offended, it would be a good idea to
take it up with God. God gave the responsibility to the man all
the way back at the garden. (Yes, in Christ there is no male or female,
but we can’t get away from the practical living God has given us here
on earth.) But before the man can beat his chest he must realize
the responsibility given him, not that he asked for it, but it was
given by God. The fathers are the examples in the family, we
cannot ask our children to do anything we do not do. A father is
not to lord his so-called possession (headship) over his family, that
is
not what it is for. The spiritual headship is critical for life--not
for the beating of the chest.
First get your spiritual house in order,
and the
“prideful--I am man,” part will then take it’s rightful place--in the
trash can. Do your part as a family, that is what makes it a
family. Be the example. Here is what we as fathers are
asked to do. Dt.
6:7 “These commandments that I give you today
are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk
about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when
you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your
hands and bind them on your foreheads.” We are lacking the
headship. Do this and you will be on your way to being what God
has
asked of us as fathers. It takes a lot more to be a father than
just having a child, likewise for the mother it takes more to be a
mother than to give birth. It is a two part deal, but each has to
help the other, taking on the responsibilities of a Godly parent.
There were men in the Old Testament
times that were
as soft and mushy as a great number of men today, read why Deborah
became the Prophetess to lead the whole nation of Israel victoriously
over the Canaanites. Soft men, wimps,
not willing to take on responsibility.
(Judges 4-5)
God is not looking for a few
good men, He is looking for men who want to be men of God. God
cannot use an egotistical, prideful, plastic man. He is looking
for the real thing.
Fathers are to get their strength from
God, mothers
get their strength from God and their husband, children get their
strength from God, Dad, and Mom. Understand, to be able to know
God’s will, you must be strongly anchored in the knowledge of
God. It is too easy for someone to say, “well, God told me so,”
we are all taught to test all things (Ro 12:2). If it is
contrary
to God’s Word, it is just self seeking motives, not God.
Fathers have to be firmly anchored, this
means to be
men of character. Men of character are men who do what is right,
even when no one is around to see, a man who says what he means and
means what he says. A man who says, “he is going to do something”
speaks
it out to someone, but doesn’t follow through, makes himself
a liar, a hypocrite. Now there are circumstances when the choice
is out of our hands, but I am talking about speaking out and saying,
“I’m going to quit drinking” but you sneak around and still
drink. Your
wife knows, she’s your wife. Others probably know as well, and
God certainly knows what you’re doing. Your wife will still love
you but now she is going to have to live with the pain and
disappointment knowing the man she married has lost some respect and
some character in her eyes, in the eyes of their children, and
those they are acquainted with. Even though you may think you’ve
been sly enough, God knows and it breaks His heart.
Character applies to absolutely
everyone, men,
women, and children. Character is a mold of who you are. If
you haven’t got character you haven’t got anything. You stand for
nothing.
Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of
more noble
character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with
great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what
Paul said was true."
To be noble is defined
as: Possessing very
high or excellent qualities, superiority of mind, character, ideals,
morals, faithfully kept.
Lack of character is what I’m going to
call a
shallow rooted tree--a Maple, when the storms of adversity blow, you
will easily be moved or toppled over. Jesus explains this in a
parable of a house being built on sandy ground, and cannot stand up to
the storms of adversity.
Matthew
7:24-27 24 "Therefore everyone who hears
these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who
built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not
fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who
hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a
foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it
fell with a great crash."
Paul instructs the whole body of Christ
to grow, so
that we will no longer be blown around. You and I included.
Ephesians 4:11-14 “It was he who gave
some to be
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we
will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and
blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and
craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking
the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the
Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in
love, as each part does its work.
As long as we are a shallow rooted tree
we will not
withstand the storms. Nor can we help anyone, including our
children, to withstand the storms that life brings our way.
Strength not passivity. A passive Christian consists of surface
strength, nothing to keep them grounded, no depth. If we are
around passive people we will have the same depths they do. I
call this fuzzy thinking, Paul explained this thinking very well in 2 Timothy 4:3-4. “For the time
will come when men will not put up
with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they
will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from
the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge
all the duties of your ministry.” All this does is make
those who listen feel good about what they are
doing or justify their behaviors or views without concerning themselves
with truth.
“Discharge all the duties of your
ministry” don’t
think this doesn’t apply to you just because you don’t have a
ministry. We all have a ministry, if you have children, family
and friends you have a ministry. Some think we have to have a
label, be registered with the state, and have a snazzy name and
logo. Jesus himself says: "All
authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end
of the age." (Matt 28:18-20) Jesus has charged you and I
to do
just that “Go make disciples of all nations.” Not “Christians”
but “disciples” a step beyond just "Christian." That means
responsibility, to take the authority given to Jesus and passed onto
us; to learn, grow, and go--learning, teaching, and living out our faith,
then passing it on to others. That means we have to know
the Word ourselves, not rely on someone else to do it for us.
When we were Property Managers of a
large apartment
complex I had to lay the ground rules by which we would work, it went
like this “God comes first, then family, then job.” None of these
will ever be out of balance. It was my responsibility to stand
firm, not my wife’s, or my children’s, it was my duty and I did it, I
had to remind our owner a few more times about our little agreement,
but we (my wife and I as one) stood firm. Our boss respected us
for that and God blessed us
for over 6 years, with countless
opportunities of witnessing and awesome growth. We endured
storms, some very difficult and damaging storms, but we have been
restored, and God has moved us on to greater responsibilities.
Praise God!
If I did not have that deep root, we as
a family
would have been greatly affected. We were blown around and tested
but our root remained firm. Because of the storm, my roots were
forced to go even deeper creating new growth and a stronger root
system. Storms will never cease so our root must be able to
support the tree. And if the father/tap root is strong it will
be passed on to the rest of the tree/family.
The deeper the root the clearer the
water becomes,
clear water means clear understanding of the word. Surface water
is murky, smells bad and makes it difficult to see and understand what
God has for us. We need to seek the clear pure waters of life
through the Word of God and fellowship through the Spirit.
We have work ahead of us!!!
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