Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. (Psalms 92:13 NKJV)
Worship is about how we live our lives, and when we serve in God’s house, that serving comes from the outflow of worship in our lives. We flourish in serving God’s purposes only when we are planted in His house, because the church is God’s answer to the hurt and searching of this world. The church is the answer. We are the answer. Us!
We can’t do this by ourselves – God has designed it to be this way, because the church is a community and family built on love, reflecting the community and family of the Trinity. To receive the benefits of being in community, as well as to be able to serve it well, we need to be planted in, rooted deeply in.
Planted or Pot-plant?
So are you planted in this house, or are you just a pot-plant? What’s the difference – well, we know what it’s like to be planted by looking at a tree. The roots of a tree go as far down into the ground as the trunk and branches go up above the ground. Trees are hard to move – you end up causing major trauma to the surrounding area to get it out – and they draw their nourishment from the ground, the same ground as all the other trees around it.
A pot-plant, on the other hand, has no purpose except to provide some decoration! It isn’t part of the fibre of the house, it’s roots are not connected to the roots of its surroundings, it isn’t drawing its nourishment and food from the house but is constantly demanding its own food. You can tell if someone is a pot-plant by how they treat church – the people, the commitments, the values. If a person’s own values, opinions and interests are more important, you know they aren’t planted in the soil of the house but in their own little container. If all they ever talk about is themselves, or what they’ve done, then you know they are a pot-plant in their own world, serving their own purpose.
Get out of the pot, and get planted
When you become planted in the soil of God’s house, you will grow more than you ever could before, the fruit you bear is more healthy, your foundation is stronger. When you are planted you become part of the bigger picture of God’s house and it stops being about you. People who are planted are very hard to move or be shaken. Pot-plants come and go, and leave no mark on the house.
For God’s life to flow through us we need to be planted into the soil of God’s house where His life can flow into us.
Be planted, not a pot-plant!
