Colossians 2:6-10 | Rooted in Christ

We spend a lot of our lives trying to grow up.

We want to move up in our careers. We want our families to grow. We want our churches to grow. We want to become more successful, more knowledgeable, more accomplished.

But when it comes to our faith, sometimes before we need to grow up, we need to grow down.

Paul writes in Colossians 2:6–7:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith…

Think about a large tree. What we admire is everything above the ground—the height, the branches, the leaves and the fruit. But what allows that tree to stand is something we rarely see.

Its roots.

The same is true of our Christian lives.

It is possible to look spiritually healthy on the outside while having very shallow roots underneath. We can attend church, know the right words, post the right things and even know a great deal about the Bible.

But eventually the wind blows.

Eventually the rain comes.

Eventually life gets difficult.

And when it does, what is underneath the surface begins to matter.

That’s why Paul doesn’t simply tell these believers to try harder or become better people. He reminds them where their roots belong:

In Him.

Our faith is not ultimately rooted in a church building, denomination, tradition, political movement, financial security, career, family or even our own ability to hold everything together.

We are rooted in Christ.

And that matters because we live in a world where almost everything seems to be moving.

Opinions change.

Culture changes.

Circumstances change.

Relationships change.

Our health changes.

Our plans change.

What society celebrates today may be rejected tomorrow. What seems secure today can disappear before we ever imagined it could.

But Jesus Christ does not change.

That’s why Paul warns us in verse 8:

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit…according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Every day something is trying to tell us what is true, what matters, what success looks like and who we ought to be.

The question for the Christian cannot simply be, What does everyone else think?

It has to become:

Is this according to Christ?

Because our roots determine our direction.

And then Paul gives us one of the greatest reminders in this passage:

And you are complete in Him.— Colossians 2:10

The world constantly tells us we need something else.

Jesus plus success.

Jesus plus money.

Jesus plus approval.

Jesus plus achievement.

Jesus plus comfort.

Jesus plus having everything go according to our plans.

But the gospel reminds us:

Christ is enough.

Christianity doesn’t begin with Jesus and then graduate to something deeper.

Jesus is the deeper thing.

We never outgrow the gospel. We grow deeper into it.

So maybe the question for us this week isn’t simply, “Am I growing?”

Maybe we should ask:

Where are my roots?

What am I depending on to give me identity, security, peace and hope?

Because anything other than Christ is soil that eventually cannot sustain the weight of our lives.

So this week, don’t just worry about growing up.

Grow down.

Put your roots deeper into Christ.

Know Him.

Walk with Him.

Trust Him.

Depend upon Him.

Build your life upon Him.

Because when the winds blow—and eventually they will—it isn’t the appearance of the tree that keeps it standing.

It’s the depth of the roots.

Deep roots produce faithful lives.