“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

     (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Are you feeling a little unproductive lately? The fact that we can’t move or go out freely as usual to “get things done” can leave us mentally frustrated. Some of us may be getting a case of cabin fever. As I have been praying this past week, I get the image of God sitting me down and reminding me to be still. We may believe that being still and being productive are the opposite of each other. That’s actually not true if you really understand what growing while being still really is. Can we still grow while not going anywhere?

Consider plants. If you have a plant near you, take a look at it. Does it move by itself? Visibly, they are pretty still aren’t they? That’s why artists call them “still life”. Just because they are still, does that mean that they are not alive and not growing? If plants are planted into good soil with good nutrients, they will still be growing. While they don’t have muscles or motion, they do grow and get bigger. They can be productive and even bear fruit. Let’s take this analogy and apply to our own lives for this season of “stillness”. Perhaps God is challenging us to see productiveness in a different way – His way. Our productiveness as disciples lies in being still, knowing that He is God (Psalm 46:10), abiding in Him.

Read John 15:5-8. Knowing that as long as we are connected to Jesus who is the vine, we who are the branch will bear much fruit. Notice that we are not the ones called to produce fruit, but bear the fruit that He brings forth.

Over the next 6 days, we will explore how God wants to bless us to be deeply rooted and be productive.

I’d like us to explore Jeremiah 17:7-8 to really align our perspective of productiveness with God’s. To do this, I believe we need to be deeply rooted first and foremost into His Word and nurture our relationship with our Saviour. So we will be starting a devotional series called Deeply Rooted: Growing and Going Together that will be posted on our website, our Instagram and Facebook accounts. Please join us starting tomorrow for the first BCDC Devotional Series and seek to be deeply rooted and learn together. Share with others and let’s grow and go together.