“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your life in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”  Colossians 2: 6-7

I have a confession to make.

I did not know until recently which end of an onion was the root end.

But after attending a cooking demonstration, not only did I learn which end was which, but also that the root served a useful purpose.

The stringy end will actually keep the onion from falling apart when slicing it.

The root holds the onion together.

I love how God speaks a word into my heart even in what may appear to be a mundane task.

There have been many moments when I felt like I was falling apart.

It is easy to get caught up in myself, my circumstances or my emotions.

And when that happens, thankfulness is far from my heart.

Maybe you know what I mean.

If I am solely focused on me, I am only scratching what is on the surface.

But when I go deeper, I find that I am rooted in something much bigger than myself.

I am rooted in Him.

Paul reminds us in Colossians 2:2 that his goal is that we “be encouraged in heart and united in love”.

I am not united with anyone when I am thinking only of myself.

I do not feel encouraged or together.

I feel bitter, sad or inadequate.

But when we are rooted in Him, and life tries to slice and dice us, we will not fall apart.

When we receive Christ and He lives in us, we are strengthened in faith.

We are less likely to be torn apart from our brothers and sisters in Christ and are more unified as a whole.

Thankfully, we can identify the root of our strength and love.

Christ keeps us together.

He is the root of all good things.

Amen.