The Root of Jesse

By J.A. Medders

If you are like me, way past your athletic prime (and not in CrossFit), hanging on the monkey bars for longer than a few seconds is excruciating and terrifying. My shoulders, arms, hands—my whole body—yell at my brain, demanding I let go. No reward could get me zooming down those bars. If you offered to pay off my house, pay for my kids to go to college, and took care of my bills for the rest of my life, but I had to make it across those bars to get the goods, I couldn’t do it. Someone would have to physically carry me. I need the strength of another.

Those awful monkey bars remind me of my complete inability to save myself. I can’t even conquer a fixture on a playground; I’d destroy myself if I thought I could handle my eternity with my own hands.

Right now, in this moment, we need supernatural strength to make it to eternity. How in the world will we make it when the waves of the world pummel us? How can we endure when the satanic powers strategize, flank us, and lure us in, day after day? The Lord is our strength. That’s how.

In Christ, the Root of Jesse, your great God and Savior, you have the Strength of strengths. The Almighty One is on your side. He’s in your corner. He’s filled you with His Spirit. Jesus was nailed to the cross for your sins, and He rose from the dead for your life—this life now and the life to come.

What alternate power supplies are you trusting? No amount of protein would get me across those monkey bars, and no amount of sola-bootstrapa (pulling yourself up by your own boot straps) will change your life. God is your salvation. God is your change agent. Are you trusting God’s power more than your own?

Our inability is no reason to hang our heads. Many men will feel their pride take a hit when they realize they can’t change themselves. Good. Let’s be humbled by the mercy and power of God—and let’s sing because of it. He is our song. He is our reason to rejoice.

Written by J. A. Medders