Hebrews Part 1: Shallow ChristianitySýnishorn

Rooted in Christ

Where I live in the Arizona desert, the monsoon season brings strong winds and heavy rains. Once the storms subside, the damage is visible everywhere. Because the soil is clay and water is scarce, the roots of trees and cactuses are very shallow. It is not uncommon for a tall cactus to be held up by only a few inches of roots. Everything is fine until a storm comes. When a storm hits, trees and cactuses are uprooted in great numbers, lying on their sides rather than remaining upright. Sadly, too many Christians are the same. Due to little Bible teaching and less obedience, their roots are so shallow that when a stormy season of trouble and turmoil hits, they are blown over because their faith is shallow.

The good news for Christians is that God wants to help us deepen our roots. If we do, then we can withstand the storms of life, not getting blown over when life sends us a big storm. There is one book in the Bible that is specifically written to help you dig deeper into God’s Word, sinking the roots of your faith into the unshakable soil of Jesus Christ, and that is the book of Hebrews.

For starters, the book of Hebrews is written to believers who have endured a pounding, stormy season and did not fare well because their roots were shallow. Does this sound familiar? Your church attendance, prayer life, and Bible reading seem to hold you up…until the storm comes. Your marriage hits a crisis, your kids are struggling, you lose your job, your health takes a turn, or some other crisis hits your life, knocking you over and ripping the roots of your faith right out of the ground. Have you ever wondered if God is real, if your faith is worth the effort, or if you can keep trusting Him much longer? If so, then you know how hard life becomes during a storm and what it feels like to have a shallow-rooted faith.

Hebrews speaks to believers over and over, instructing us not to get uprooted when the storms of life hit:

·2:1 (ESV) – Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

·3:6 (ESV) – And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

·10:23 (ESV) – Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

·10:39 (ESV) – But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Are there any areas of your life that you thought you were strong in until the storms of life hit? What is one practical thing you can do to strengthen your faith in that area?