Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

During the talk on discipleship on walk 1807 there was much said which described us, the branches and our connection to the vine. The Lord said look deeper, look to the root. The image was from a documentary I saw a few months ago.

In Ethiopia there was a discovery in a deep cave of a root that made its way down from the surface thousands of feet to feed off a water source deep within the earth. It was traced back to a fig tree that was growing out of solid rock. At the surface the root could not be seen, only the tree, the fruit and the rock.

A closer examination of the root demonstrates the power of the root to overcome every obstacle to bring fruit to fruition. It is patiently persistent, it never gives up its nature in favor of its environment. The root is the ultimate overcomer. The branch does not even appear if the root has not been established in the first place. No root, no branch, no fruit.

Ephesians 3:16-19 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

No matter how deep the love, the root will bring it to the surface.

Luke 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

A pilgrim on walk 1807 expressed his concern about not being perfect. I told him he was perfect today because he is exactly what Jesus needs him to be today. I did not get to explain that to him on the walk, so let this devotional be that talk.

Perfect here is the Greek word katartizo. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon it is defined as to render fit, sound, complete by two distinct methods. A: to mend that which was broken or rent. In our faith life that is being reconciled to God, the bridge that was broken has been re-established. B: to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust. This is restoration.

To place this into a visual framework that makes it easier to understand allow me to speak about a friend of mine and his 1958 Plymouth Fury, a car similar to the one staring in the Steven King movie Christine.

He bought the car and had it hauled into his garage. This is A: reconciliation. It is now his and under his roof. When I saw the car he had washed it and put new tires on her but the car was covered with rust, tail-lights were cracked,  and the exhaust system hanging down. “She’s perfect!” He said.

Perfection here is a condition of the opinion of the owner and no one else, not even the car. She didn’t have heavy rust, everything could be re-pair, re-build, replaced, and restored to its original design. This is B: restoration.

We tend to look at perfection as the finished product while God looks at His child (us) as being perfect like this car. It is perfect in every moment, not what it was, not what it will be but perfect in the love and adoration of God, no matter how we see ourselves. Because we are His.

You are what God needs you to be today.