Be Like Bamboo

 By Jessica Edwards

Biology, the study of living organisms, has always fascinated me. I love to dissect animals, look at tiny things under a microscope, learn how the human body works, and study plant life. In fact, I have a degree to prove just how much I love biology. Sometimes I say big words like Bufo americanus to my parents just to prove they didn't waste their money on my college education. :)

I suppose it's no surprise then that Colossians 2:6-7 caught my attention. (ESV) “Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” The Greek word for rooted is rhizoo, which, in a roundabout way, is where we get our English word rhizome.

 

 

Let me refresh your high school biology class memory. A rhizome is a root which runs along just below the surface of the soil. As it branches out underground, it is constantly producing new plants which grow up as “babies” of the original mother plant. The bamboo plant would be an example of a rhizome.

Wait a minute... I'm supposed to be rooted like a rhizome? As I live my life rooted and built up in Jesus, I'm supposed to be reproducing myself all along the way? Yep, that's what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19a (ESV) “Go therefore and make disciples....”. This is one of the last commandments He gave His disciples before returning to His rightful place at the right hand of God the Father. 

As women, we are given the mandate (it's not optional!) to teach younger women what it looks like to be godly, reverent women everywhere we go (Titus 2:3-5). That means I need to be investing in younger women to reproduce what the Lord is teaching me.

I'm still fascinated with biology, and I love it when the Lord shows me an an unexpected connection between something I've learned in biology and something I've read in His Word.

 So, my friend, be like bamboo! :)

 

Jessica Edwards is a wife and homeschool mom who loves Jesus and His Word. She lives in the beautiful north Georgia mountains where you can find her hiking or trying to grow veggies in her vegetable garden.