At work, I often have to dig holes. Just using a post hole digger can be exhausting. Carolina red clay make it worse. But the worst scenario is when you hit rocks and roots. You have to really get serious about digging when you start to hit that stuff. So, I was putting up some posts when this concept hit me: rocks and roots will save our lives.

Many of the Christians today do not have any foundation to their faith. They hear a good message, their hearts start beating, they get the butterflies, and they give their lives to the Lord. That is an awesome thing. However, it is what happens after that that is most important. If a person merely "gets saved" but does not begin to work on their faith through knowledge and experiencing who God is, chances are, their faith will fail.

Jesus said that He is the cornerstone of our faith. He is the rock of our salvation, the stone that the builders rejected. It is upon the rock that He built His church. See where I'm going with this? He is the rock!!! We need to have rock solid faith if we are going to make it through this life and persevere. When I'm digging and I hit a rock, it jolts my whole body. I KNOW when I hit a rock that I can't break through. That's how I want Satan and the world to feel when they try to dig up my faith. I want shock to spread all through them as they hit the rock of my foundation. When there's no rocks, holes are easy to dig. Once there's a hole, it can be filled with something else.

Roots are just as important as rocks. If your faith doesn't take root, it can be pulled up without any effort. Jesus tells the parable of the seeds, and the only seeds that make are the ones that set up roots. There are many different sizes of roots. Grass has really small, weak roots. But I've hit some from trees that no matter how hard I dug, there was no getting through. Roots so big that it took me getting a saw to cut through them. That's the kind of roots I want. Roots so big and deep that you can't put a hole in my faith. You won't change my mind. I am as deep as I am high, and wide too. The only way to develop a root system like this is to spend time in the Bible learning about who God is (and who He isn't). We have to spend time in prayer and communion with Him. And we have to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us to give us strength to be strong in this corrupt and broken world.

Though it's a real pain while I'm digging, I love rocks and roots. I thank God that I'm firmly established in my faith, and I pray that you will also begin to develop a system of rocks and roots that will help you through the rest of your life.

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (‭John‬ ‭9‬:‭1-7‬ NIV)

I've often wondered why Jesus didn't just tell this man to open his eyes and let him see. He had the power. It could have been done instantly. Jesus was funny about doing strange things to make points.

Last night at church, our small group was talking about accountability within the body of believers. We discussed how we are in fact supposed to bring to light the things that we see our brothers and sisters struggling with. People forget that after Jesus said not to take the speck out of someone's eye before you remove the plank out of yours, He continued to say THEN go to your brother and take the speck from his eye. We were made for accountability in community.

Sometimes, accountability gets messy. It's dirty and uncomfortable. Sometimes people don't want to hear what we have to say. It's kind of like putting mud on a blind person's eyes. It seems like we're just trying to add more dirt to their lives, but all we are doing is trying to help them see. And though it can get messy, when they finally do see, I promise, just like the blind man, they will be very happy and appreciate your willingness to get a little dirt on yourself for their sake.