ETERNITY

[Ranb2khz]

A Bitter Root

~ Ask God to remove anything in your heart that keeps you trapped in darkness.

Scripture Reading:

"Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." ~ Hebrews 12:14-15

Yesterday, we examined a scene in which bitterness was a poison. Today, let’s consider another useful illustration that will help us understand the effects of resentment.

Hebrews 12:15 describes bitterness as a root. Where do you find roots? They are underground, gathering water and nutrients from the soil around them. Without the root, the vegetation would collapse and die.

Can you see how this image parallels your spiritual life? Perhaps you have a root of bitterness in the soil of your heart. Does the fact that it’s unseen mean that it is inert and harmless? Absolutely not! The root is doing its job — sucking the life from you to strengthen a cynical and hateful weed.

Thankfully, there’s a solution to the problem. “Once you were full of darkness,” the apostle Paul tells us, “but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9). To kill a weed, you need to dig it up by the root. Pull the source of your resentment out of its hiding place. Bring it into the light and then throw it away for good.
_________________

~ published by: In Touch Ministries

https://www.intouch.org/read/daily-devotions/a-bitter-root






•