A Faith With Roots

When I was in college, I had many friends who attended church and professed to be Christians, but now they no longer walk with Jesus.

Some of them were so committed that we thought they would dedicate their whole lives to reaching the lost. Some of them married each other because of their zeal to accomplish the Great Commission during our generation.

Were they sincere? What went wrong? Why did so many of them give up their faith?

I have come to realize that the parable of the sower is so true. When Jesus told it, He was communicating to all of us the need to have true faith — faith that saves, not emotional faith — that is rooted in the Rock and not on circumstances or people or even experiences with God.

Jesus, who is God in the flesh, said that there are some who receive the Word with joy when they hear, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but when trials come, they fall away. I have seen so many fall away; even the person who baptized me and led me back to the Lord now professes to be an agnostic.

We all have to realize that an emotional experience is not sufficient for salvation. There have to be roots. Roots require us to know, to count the cost, to accept that this is a journey.

Many times it will seem that God is not interested in our prayers, that there are no answers, but we must believe anyway.

We must trust in His goodness. We must trust that this Jesus who was resurrected from the dead will come through for us and deliver us from all our troubles. We must believe that without faith it is impossible to please God. We must trust that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

“Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.” —Luke 8:6, NIV

Prayer: Please, Lord Jesus, show all of us what actions we should take to be secure that our faith is firmly rooted in You, the Rock.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jose Carrasco is an Area Director for Compassion Peru.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.