Tumbleweeds or a Sequoia?

I like this time of the year. It is a season of new things, new promises, new goals, and new determination. The church gets especially blessed as members make a new effort to attend regularly and many guests are attending looking for a church and a place to fulfill their new goals.

It is like the following Sundays after ‘Black Tuesday’ September 11, 2001. Attendance at churches spiked dramatically across the nation. We too had a great increase in attendance here at The Vine. Bible sales went up 28%. Many people had spiritual questions. But, it didn’t last! Why? Our sense of urgency didn’t last. President Bush did keep us from another attack. He sacrificed his popularity and Presidency on protecting you and me. I salute and honor him.

It will be the same again in a few weeks as our promises and goals fade. Soon we’re back to work, back to PTA meetings, soccer matches, carpooling, and yard work. Although we were sincere at the time about seeking God, slowly our motivation dissipates.

Do you know what makes tumbleweeds so susceptible to the wind? Tumbleweeds only put down one root, and that root is very shallow. So tumbleweeds are easily uprooted when the wind blows. Soon the tumbleweed is blowing wherever the wind pushes it, without any sense of direction or stability.

Contrast tumbleweeds with a tree, like a sequoia, that puts down lots of roots and these roots go deep. Even in the midst of strong winds, sequoias stand firm, because their root structure is strong and deep.

Is your spiritual life more like tumbleweeds or a sequoia? If you only have one or two roots in your spiritual life and these roots don’t go very deep, you’re more like tumbleweeds. And when the winds of life come, the winds of suffering and tragedy, or the breeze of business and routine, you’ll be easily uprooted. But if you have deep spiritual roots, you’ll find yourself standing firm no matter what comes into your life.

How deep are your roots? Are you more like tumbleweeds or a sequoia?