take root downward, bear fruit upward
Feb 21st, 2008 by Nathanael
“And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward” (Isaiah 37.21 ESV)
. …take root downward…bear fruit upward. This is the secret of a healthy spiritual life.
The fruit of the Spirit is not a checklist of things I should be doing, or how I should be trying to live this life. The fruit of the Spirit is attributes and characteristics of Jesus Christ that are produced in the lives of His followers when they surrender to Him on a moment-by-moment basis. And we see from this verse in Isaiah that as my root of faith move deeper into intimate communion and fellowship with God, the natural result will be that His fruit will be born upward to the hungry souls around me.
A few days ago, I wrote a post about my lack of this fruit. This comes from striving. But as I burrow deeper and deeper into the richness of His presence, His love overcomes my hatred, His joy conquers my sorrow, His peace overwhelms my tumult, His patience triumphs over my intolerance, His kindness overpowers my insensitivity, His goodness defeats my depravity, His faithfulness prevails over my treachery, His gentleness crushes my selfish violence, and His self-control is mine in place of my self-indulgence.
And so today, dear friend, take root downward and bear His fruit upward.
