It is reported that the tree with the deepest roots is at Echo Caves, near Ohrigstad, Mpumalanga, South Africa. (1) It is a Wild Fig tree and its roots extend to a depth of 400 feet. Is this Wild Fig tree’s root system just some vicarious trivia? Perhaps not, because I found some fascinating information about this tree. The Wild Fig tree is known as a keystone species, “a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance”. (2) The Wild Fig tree is an essential element of the ecosystem in which it exists. The fig has been found in the “diets of over 1280 species of bird, mammal, reptile and fish”. (3) Fig trees are known for their “enormous and powerful root systems” to support the “massive trunks and branches” that develop. (4)
While I am intrigued by the intricate interdependency of the world that I live in, I am even more surprised at the incredible depth and character of God’s love. Perhaps it is that although I came to believe in God as a child, I still have more to learn about His love for me. So, I am rethinking this Bible passage in Ephesians Chapter 3 on God’s love. I am pondering the words “rooted” and “established” and what they might mean to me about God’s love.
Roots have four major functions: absorption of water and inorganic nutrients, anchoring of the plant body to the ground and supporting the plant, storage of food and nutrients, vegetative reproduction. (5) These four functions can relate to God’s love being rooted and established in our lives just as this Wild Fig tree is rooted and established in South Africa with an astounding system of roots that extend some 400 feet into the ground. How well have I absorbed God’s love into my life? How well am I anchored to the ground and supported by God’s love? Am I in the process of storing up God’s love and why would this be necessary? For what purpose do I need to absorb, anchor and store up God’s love?
Have you ever gone to the beach or just sat in the sun to absorb the warmth of its rays? Have you ever used a sponge to absorb a spill? Have you ever become absolutely still in order to absorb the rays of God’s love into your life? Absorption is the first function of the root. Absorption is defined in two ways, either absorbing another thing or being engrossed in something. Either definition is applicable to God’s love in our lives. Either I am absorbing and learning about God’s character of love and/or I am becoming captivated by God’s love. The seed of the Wild Fig tree is dropped from the sky by some bird into the top of the canopy of the forest. It sits there absorbing light, air and whatever nutrients blow in on the wind but without a root system the seedling will not survive. How well am I absorbing and accepting God’s love into my life? What hangups might I have about God’s love for me? Or what barriers might I have erected to keep God’s love from pouring into my life? Do I truly believe that the God of the universe has created this day to express His love for me?
Time has a way of changing the lay of the land. For 20 years, I walked to a river that ran close to our home. We were able to walk down to a gravel bar in a bend of the river and over the years we had observed how the flow of the river can erode the bank. With the passage of time, the root system of trees along the bank become more and more exposed until the day came they were no longer able to anchor and support the tree. The second function of the root is to be an anchor and give support to the plant. God’s love is both deep and vast. It is unfailing. The soil around God’s love will never erode or give way. Unlike our river, God’s love is unchanging. So, I have found that while the circumstances of my life are constantly in flux, God’s love can be my anchor and support. Like the river, I am changing as I experience various events in my life. There are days that I am just living in the sunshine absorbing God’s light and there are days I am flailed by cold and strong winds. No matter, God’s love will anchor me to solid ground.
Storage, storage, and more storage. Americans must be quite knowledgeable on this topic because at every turn in the road there is a new storage business of some type. The third function of the root is storage. In the Old Testament, there is a heartrending story about a young man sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph was taken to a foreign country and spent 13 years in slavery before eventually becoming 2nd in command to the Pharaoh. Joseph was given a dream that foretold the future of Egypt. The dream foretold that there would be 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of drought. Joseph took this responsibility to heart and Genesis 41:49 says “Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.” I believe that I am responsible for storing up God’s love in my roots just as Joseph stored grain in his storehouses. Just like the grain that filled Joseph’s storehouses beyond measure, so is God’s love for me, “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19b NIV).
Using my roots for a storage system for God’s love means that God is a comfort to me when I am sorrowful, that God provides compassion to me when I am hurting or in pain, guidance when I need direction, or that God provides daily forgiveness each time I wander. In essence, I am utilizing God’s storehouse as my own. God has stored up for me more than I could ever imagine. “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.” (Deuteronomy 28:12) Paul concludes it this way, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Now to the fourth function of the root system which is the bearing of fruit or vegetative reproduction. Isaiah clearly depicts the product of a successful and strong root system, “In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.” (Chapter 27:6) Again, “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Chapter 37:31-32) I would be amiss if I failed to attribute the success and growth of the root system to the rightful owner. It is not of my doing. It is by the “zeal of the Lord Almighty”. This partner is responsible for being open and in tune with the Lord Almighty, for allowing my roots to anchor me in solid ground, for delving into and having a passion for all that is the one true God and for permitting God to use my life to reach others. I now have a longing to be in God’s vineyard, to be cared for by the one who understands life and living like no other and to develop a strong and massive root system.
Jeremiah sums it all up for us in Chapter 17:7-8 “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.” Am I searching for happiness, or maybe more confidence in my life? Here it is! I am to be like a tree planted and sending out roots to the living water of the Lord my God. I will not be afraid when the storms pummel my branches, my leaves will not see decay. I will have no worry when the rains cease and I will never cease to bring forth fruit. My root system has been anchored in solid ground. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7)
So, this Wild Fig tree is a keystone species, that in relation to their number, they have an unusually large impact on their ecosystem. Deuteronomy 7:6-7 in my own words goes like this: God did not bestow His love on the Hebrew people because they were many in number, in fact, they were the “fewest of all peoples”. Rather, he gave his covenant of love to a chosen few, who were his treasured possession, in order that they might feed all the world. So now I see the Hebrew people, a keystone species so to speak, having borne fruit from the root of David to make a difference not only in my life but all people.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
(1) http://www.thetreedoctor.co.za/tree_info.htm
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species
(3) https://underthebanyan.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/who-eats-figs-everybody/#more-4016
(4) http://homeguides.sfgate.com/ficus-tree-roots-easy-dig-up-66647.html