Thursday, August 16, 2007
Ephesians 3:17-19 . . . being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height -- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
THE FLOWER BOX EXPANDED
Christians are like seeds placed in a box of dirt. Their roots grow when exposed to Christ's nourishing Word. As we absorb Christ's love for us, more roots branch out into His Word. Those roots run deeper into His love. Those roots then grow thicker, giving us a solid foundation that is not easily uprooted by the false teachings of the Devil.
But a plant can only grow as big as the box it's put in. As plant seeds mature, the little black seed cube gets all filled with roots. Those roots can't grow further unless they have a bigger box to grow in. So we transplant them. Then the roots can stretch farther down. Then the branches can grow further up.
Christians are the same. When we first sprouted in the soil of Christ, we were in a small box. As we grow in our knowledge of Christ our box expands.
In the above reading, Paul describes Christ's love as a box which is bigger than the box containing all knowledge! And as we begin to comprehend the true dimensions of Christ's love, then the box in which we grow expands. As we know Christ's love more fully, our capacity to be filled with Him expands. And as this happens, we are filled to a greater degree with the things that fill God Himself.
When we are filled with the fullness of God. God's character traits become our character traits. Honesty pours in and drowns our liar's tongue. Thoughtfulness floods over our selfishness. Foul words are replaced with good ones. Anger is replaced with forgiveness. In all things we begin to imitate our great Savior, who forgave us our sins even though we hated Him; Who loved us when we deserved none of His love.
