Further help concerning the practical enjoyment of Christ is found in 2:7. According to this verse, we have been rooted in Christ. This word implies the existence of soil. Christ is the rich soil in which we are rooted. In a foregoing message we pointed out that this rich soil contains many marvelous elements: the fullness of the Godhead, the headship of Christ, Christ’s circumcision, His burial, being raised up with Christ, the wiping out of the ordinances, and the stripping off of the rulers and authorities. Colossians 2:9-15 is a description of the elements of the soil implied by the words “having been rooted” in 2:7.
We are rooted in Christ, who is the rich, fertile soil. Having been rooted in Him, we should go on to absorb His riches. As a tree absorbs nourishing elements from the soil through its roots, we also should absorb the riches of Christ into us. The elements absorbed into a tree from the soil enable the tree to grow. Thus, a tree’s growth depends upon the nourishment it absorbs through its roots. Since we have been rooted into Christ, we should remain in Him in a practical way day by day. In our experience, we need to stay rooted in Christ. However, if we forget Christ in matters such as eating and drinking, we are not rooted in Him in our experience. When we eat our food, we may not remember Christ. After our meal, we may spend some time in prayer. But even at the beginning of our prayer, we may not actually and experientially be rooted in Christ, for we may pray many unnecessary things. But in His mercy and patience, the Lord waits until we begin to pray in a genuine way. Then in our experience we absorb Christ’s riches. However, when our time of prayer is finished, it may happen that we do not go on to assimilate what we have absorbed of Him. According to the Lord’s words in John 15, it could be that we do not abide in Him.
In the morning many saints spend time with the Lord. However, even though they spend a certain amount of time with Him, they may not absorb much of His riches. The reason is that they are in too much of a hurry. If we would absorb the riches of Christ into us as our nourishment, we should not be rushed. We cannot absorb anything if we are in a hurry.
We should not only absorb the Lord in the morning, but we should be like trees continually absorbing the riches of the soil. This means that we must learn to practice the continual enjoyment of Christ. We should let every physical thing be a reminder of Christ, for all these things are shadows of which Christ is the substance. The clothing we put on each day should remind us of Christ. We should put Him on in our spirit and by our spirit. Drinking a glass of water should remind us to drink Christ by the exercise of our spirit. To follow this practice is to be rooted in Christ and to absorb His riches.
If we would absorb the riches of Christ as the soil, we need to have tender, new roots. Do not let yourself get old, but be fresh and renewed day by day. Pray to the Lord, “Lord, I want my consecration to be fresh, and I want to open to You anew. I want my roots to be tender that I may absorb Your riches. Lord, don’t let my roots get old.” If our roots are tender and new to absorb the riches of Christ, we shall grow automatically with the riches we assimilate. This is to enjoy Christ and to experience Him subjectively daily and hourly. This will keep us from being defrauded of our prize. But if we do not remain rooted in Him to absorb His riches, in a subtle way the enemy will defraud us of the practical and continual enjoyment of Christ.
Although there are millions of Christians on earth today, almost all of them have been defrauded of their prize of the enjoyment of Christ. They believe in Christ, have received Him, and perhaps have even paid a price to follow Him, but, like the Colossians, they have been deprived of the enjoyment of Christ. All Christians, including us, need to heed Paul’s warning not to allow anyone to defraud us of our prize. We should not allow anyone to carry us away from the enjoyment of Christ. Christ is the body, the reality, of all the positive things in the universe. As we enjoy the positive physical things, we should be reminded to enjoy Christ. If we do this, our daily living will be full of the enjoyment of Christ. Then we shall be rooted in Him, absorb His riches, and grow in Him.