“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15

Years ago I had a draining problem in my pool area. When it rained, the water rose until it threatened to come into the house! Drilling through a concrete wall, I laid a pipe to drain away that water. This week I had reason to check out that drain and found out I was heading for a problem. It wasn’t a drain problem YET…but it was potentially even worse!

Somehow that pipe had cracked underground and a tree root, searching for water, grew alongside the pipe. When it discovered the crack, it did what roots do…it kept rooting. Once inside the easy path of the open pipe, it got bigger and bigger. Had I not discovered it, the whole pipe would have eventually filled and choked shut. An even MORE difficult and expensive problem down the road. Telling the hardware guy, he told me of a banyan root once he saw that filled a 3 story tall pipe!

I’m a once saved, always saved guy! But Bible verses like this one cause me to carefully inspect my own condition. According to this verse, it IS possible to FALL SHORT of God’s Grace! Since this letter to the Hebrews is written to believers, it makes me want to find out what is really hidden in this message.

Roots are not the purpose of a tree. They are the means of supplying water and nutrients to the tree so that it can bear fruit. I know Jesus has a LOT to say about FRUIT…both good and bad! I think this verse parallels the Old Testament command of not taking the Lord’s name in vain. They think they are keeping it by NOT putting 2 words together! The same principle can apply to bitter roots that can produce bitter fruit!

I read that 65% of the U.S.A.’s population identify as Christian! Yep! My eyebrow raised too! But in speaking with people about the Gospel, I have found people who really believe they ARE Christians! To them, everything is just fine. The root to bad fruit has grown for so long, they actually believe it! When I try to dig deep to go further…resistance, rock and rubble prohibit any means to discover how big their problem really is!

This warning is from God. And He wants me to be CLEAR about where I am and HONEST with Him to allow correction and change. Just because I THINK everything is fine doesn’t mean it really is. Just like my physical body needs a periodic checkup, so does my spiritual body.

SO what kind of fruit rootin’ is going on in YOUR life?