Beware of Bitter Roots Hebrews 12 14-17

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

BEWARE OF BITTER ROOTS

Heb 12:14-17

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

NIV

We looked at making every effort to live in peace with everyone and being holy. We even examined the idea making sure no one misses out on the grace of God. However, with this bitter root that grows, we might have to spend more time with it. Checking every translation and looking into the Greek, we cannot escape this direct meaning or a bitter root. The problem is the root of any plant has an effect on what kind of fruit is going to be produced. It would make sense if the root is bitter, then the fruit would be bitter to the taste. Once again, we are being told to see to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Can one bitter root grow that much that many would be defiled? This Greek word, miaimo, means to contaminate, to taint, it can be used to dye another color, stain, or pollute. How can we be in charge of the way other people think and behave? How can we affect their thinking, so they do not become a polluter in the church? It could just take one person allowing bitterness to spread within the church. Gossip has always been one of the forms of communication within the church. It can spread like wildfire, and it will grow especially if the gossip is really juicy, but it is nothing more than poison talk, and maybe that is this bitter root. It could also be some wrong theology that gets rooted in the church and can cause a lot of trouble contaminating the body of believers. This author was concerned about the Hebrew believer returning to the looking at the law for righteousness, and away from Jesus. That could have been the bitter root that was growing.  So perhaps it is wrong theology that could be the problem we have to contend with. That we can take charge of, especially if we are the pastor and can teach and preach the truth. But any believer can take charge of that problem by always being ready to give a good word, always speaking the truth, not listening to gossip, and not allowing any wrong thinking to stain our minds, causing us to change color, or thinking. We can cut the sprout off that is coming from some bitter root, and even dig up that root if we believe the truth, think the truth, and speak the truth. Jesus is the truth, the way, and the light upon our path. There is no other way, and we cannot add anything to Jesus. We cannot say that we believe in Jesus and some laws, or rules and regulations we establish so we can be “Good  Christians”. Of course, we cannot live any way we want either, but living in Christ, and having Christ in us, having the Spirit dwell within will cause us to live in a manner that pleases God. But that is not based on the law, or those rules we make, for the work of God is to believe in the one he sent, Jesus. That is simple, believe in Jesus and Jesus alone. All else will come and will grow into a good plant that bears much fruit that is sweet to the taste. Let us help all grow and produce that sweet fruit. Let us watch out for any bitter root.