Edification

As "God's husbandry," "planted in the house of the Lord," the roots of our life are "hidden with Christ in God." To him we must cling; around him every fibre of the soul must twine. Thus "rooted and grounded in love" because in Christ himself, we shall be safe against the gales of false doctrine (Ephesians 4:14), which would uproot our souls. The second figure is that of a house, "God's building," a more frequent figure (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:5). Edification is a gradual work, and in proportion to it shall we be "established in our faith." In the West Indies we have seen trees that seemed to combine the two figures of this verse. In the magnificent silk cotton trees (Eriodendrum) we see enormous trunks sometimes rising eighty or a hundred feet before they send forth any of their huge branches. The widespreading roots secure the safety of the vast superstructure from the wildest hurricane. But around the base of the trunk there rise above the roots massive buttresses whereby the tree is "built up" to still greater stability. Thus "rooted and built up" in Christ, the Christian may defy storms, may "wax stronger and stronger," may bring forth "much fruit," "abounding therein in thanksgiving." - E.S.Prout

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