In Colossians 2:6-7, Paul commands us, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him,rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (NRSV). I want to focus on Paul’s command to be “rooted” in Jesus.

When we root ourselves in Jesus, we receive nourishment and life from him. Just as the soil provides nourishment for the plant through the roots, so also Christ provides nourishment for us. Jesus himself says, “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26) and “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life” (6:54). To truly live, we need Jesus, the source of life.

When we root ourselves in Jesus, we have a foundation that will not fail. If a tree has a deep and broad root system, it will better withstand the storms to come. We will have many storms in life: Death of friends and family, sickness, political and social unrest, false teaching, injustice, and many other vices and unfortunate circumstances.  Rooting ourselves in Jesus is the best way to prepare ourselves for these storms. As the old song goes, we will be “like a tree planted by the water, [we] shall not be moved” (cf. Ps 1:3).

To root ourselves in Christ, we need to strengthen our faith. We strengthen our faith by study, worship, service, and many other spiritual disciplines that focus our mind, body, and spirit on our Messiah. They will help us to remove the faltering foundation of faulty reasoning, mistaken trust, and sinful inclination. Simultaneously, they establish our foundation upon the
Living Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-10). He alone is how we can weather the storm and he alone is how we can have life.