I have been contemplating starting a blog for a while now - I enjoy keeping up with my friends who do have blogs but I am afraid I will not make the time to keep it updated....so here it goes - I'm going to give it a shot! All of my friends have great names for their blogs and I am an accountant....i.e. NOT creative....but I wanted the name to mean something...to me, about me, about my family, to my friends...so I started thinking.
About a year ago I read Joshua Harris' book Dug Down Deep - it is great because he talks about theological matters/terms in ways a normal person (yes I'm normal :) ) can understand. His motiviation for the title comes from Jesus' parable in Luke 6 about the Wise and Foolish Builders. NIV says
46. Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say? 47. I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48. He is like a man building a house, who Dug Down Deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
In order to be "dug down deep", we must understand what we believe and put it into practice. It is so easy to be a surface Christian, a surface friend, a surface person. By default, this is what I am....a surface person - in general, I can get along with anyone, I am not emotional, and I don't like drama - so, surface relationships are for me! BUT Luke 6:47 says "hears my words AND puts them into practice". Mark 12:31....LOVE your neighbor as yourself...... Really? Do I actually have to do that? Just a few years back I realized that I didn't love people. I knew what the second greatest commandment was since I was very young but never REALIZED that I didn't love people. All at once, a Sunday school lesson, a sermon, and a song brought it to my attention....profound right? It was to me - I eagerly shared my new realization with Zach and he says...yeah, I know - WHAT? You know...then why didn't you tell me? (as if I would have listened).
Ephesians 3:17 says "May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. (NLT) This version is on front of a journal I bought a few years back - because it was cute, not because of the verse but I needed this verse in this translation! God's love - my source for my love of others. It took me a long time to understand that love is not an emotion (remember my comment about not being an emotional person), it's action. People know you love because they see what it looks like, not because you tell them you do. My background picture is this:
It is a picture of Zach gazing up at the Angel Tree - a HUGE live oak in Charleston. This tree is amazing and beautiful. According to Wikipedia, it is estimated to be 300-400 years old, stands 65 ft tall, measures 28 ft in circumference, and shades with its crown an area of 17,000 square feet. The tree is thought to be one of the oldest living organisms east of the Mississippi. It has survived hurricanes, floods, and human interference and it's acorns are producing offspring (fruit). This is a tree whose roots are DUG DOWN DEEP! My prayer is that my roots will go down deep into God's love that I may reach out and produce fruit!
