Rooted in Christ :: Not Carried Away
by Pastor Shaun
“…take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:7-8 ESV)
DEVOTION:
Being ROOTED in CHRIST means we grow in God’s grace.
Can you imagine a healthy plant that never grew? Of course not! Growth is part of having roots deeply planted in good soil. So also with you and me. Growth is part of a life ROOTED in God’s Word. We feed on the Word each day. We learn from it and receive life from it. And our growth reflects the goodness of the one in whom we are rooted.
In 2 Peter, the apostle is concerned that if we are not firm in our faith, we will be carried away by the errors of the world. Like a plant, rooted in poor soil (Mark 4:1-20), if our lives are not properly ROOTED in Christ, we will ready targets for the lies of the devil, the world, and our flesh. And if we hear and believe these lies, we will lose our stability.
Our world is, unsurprisingly, filled with lies. We hear lies masquerading as science, telling us that our ORIGIN is not God’s Work (Genesis 1:1), but rather it is the product of millions of years of chance. We hear lies parading as progressive wisdom, telling us that our IDENTITY is not declared with certainty by God (Genesis 1:26-27), who made us “male and female,” but that instead, we can choose to be whomever we wish, even in matters well-established by objective biology. The lies continue, attacking our PURPOSE. We are told that we are not meant to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40), but instead we are to be unapologetically selfish, looking out for “number 1.”
On and on the lies go. They are on repeat in our world. And repetition is the mother of memory. As a middle school teacher, I would often tell students that “saying something over and over again doesn’t make it true.” But politicians and pundits everywhere know that repeating things, even false things, can convince a broad swath of society to believe them.
Let it not be so with you, dear children of God! Read His Word every day. Memorize it. Let what is repeated into your soul be “the very truth of God and not the invention of any man.” (Creed, Rich Mullens) And in this way you will be ROOTED in CHRIST, growing in grace, stable in all your ways, and not easily carried away by the errors of this world.
CATECHISM MEMORY:
The Sixth Commandment: You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.
READINGS for THIS WEEK:
Mon: Matthew 16:13-20 Tue: Matthew 16:21-28 Wed: 2 Peter 1 Thu: 2 Peter 2 Fri: 2 Peter 3 Sat: Romans 16
Sunday, September 13: (Isaiah 55:6-9| Romans 16 | Matthew 20:1-16)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS & ACTIVITIES for the READINGS
- What does each reading teach you about God’s Word and its intended effects on our lives?
- What does each reading teach you about how you should receive and respond to God’s Word?
- What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ? (Mon)
- Why does Peter not Jesus to die on the cross? Why is Peter wrong? (Tues)
- How does Peter encourage us in His 2nd epistle to stand firm against the lies of this world and grow in God’s grace? (Wed.-Fri)
- What questions do you have about the readings this week?
(Write them down and share them with Pastor Shaun!)