A tree must have at least one deep taproot to keep the water coming to the rest of its branches. If it does not, at times of drought, the tree will die. The same is true for you. Your roots must be deep in God's Word so that when you don't have those "hype times," you still have life in you.
How do you get deep roots? By putting the Word of God in your heart and mind.
Blessed is the man [whose]...delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water....If you meditate on God's Word, He will give you real life in your heart. You can't completely understand it with your mind.
(Ps. 1:1-3)
But the truth is, when you get His Word in your mind, and you meditate on it like a cow chews his cud, He gives you an unending burst of LIFE!
It is time to get serious about reading the Bible. Every single day, don't just read some—memorize some of what you read! Take one Scripture and chew on it all day long, every single day.
What about reading through the whole Bible? Get serious about getting your roots deep in the Word, and you will constantly have real life.
Are You Nourished?
Some people eat all the time but are not healthy. They eat, but because they eat junk food, they are weak and sickly.
Many Christians are like this. They go to church and even read their Bibles. But because they do not take seriously what they read, or what they hear, they are malnourished. They think that because they do the activity, they will be healthy.
They wonder why they keep falling so easily into sin and bad habits. They go through the spiritual activities but they don't have any spiritual LIFE bursting in their heart.
One great way to get this spiritual nutrition is to fast. The idea is that you do not eat physically, but you do eat spiritually. In fact, you pig-out on God! A fast is really a feast!
Jesus said in Matthew 6:16, "When you fast...." Not if you fast. In other words He expects us to fast. It is a time of getting away from everything and everyone to get tight with God and let Him give you nutrients to live on.
Are You Reproducing?
You don't have to force an apple tree to give apples. It just does because it is a living apple tree. You do not have to trick it or beg it to give you apples. It does it naturally if it is alive. Anything that is alive reproduces.
Have you reproduced the life of God inside you and given it to someone else? Are you bearing good fruit?
Some Christians try to convince you and make you feel obligated to share the gospel with other people. But the fact is that if you really have that LIFE burning inside you, you will not be able to keep it to yourself.
Nobody should have to beg you to tell others about God. In fact, if you have this burning life, it will naturally come out, just as the apple trees naturally give apples. People should be asking you to shut up because you are talking so much about Him!
Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit..." (John 15:5).
If you are really alive, you will be bearing fruit and reaching others for Jesus.
Excerpt permission granted by Albury Publishing