“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

(Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV)

Have you ever seen a sequoia? Those trees are amazing. You stand at the bottom of one of them, and the trunk is as big around as a house. And when you tilt your head back and look up—up—up, you see green needle leaves and branches and maybe far, off the sky—but mainly you focus on that reddish-brown trunk, going so far up it seems to touch heaven.

And then you look down and see the pine cones at your feet. Pine cones! So small you can hold six or seven in your hand. That’s where the big tree came from. It makes no sense to me emotionally, but it’s true. The same life is in the seed and the full-grown tree.

That’s a lot like what Paul’s describing for us as Christians. We know that in spiritual terms right now we are very small—just seeds or little seedlings, born from the Holy Spirit’s work when He brought us to trust in Jesus. We don’t look like much. People pass us by every day and never turn their heads.

But we won’t stay that way. Christ Himself dwells in us and He is our life. Through His own death and resurrection, He has taken us into Himself, into His life—and now we are different inside. We are “rooted and grounded in love,” Jesus’ love; and because we have those strong roots, we are already starting to stretch for the sky. God keeps giving us what Paul prayed for us: the “strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

We are small and humble now, and it’s good for us to remember that—but God lives in us. We are like the seeds of a sequoia, or something even greater. Why? Not because of us, but because of Jesus, who lives in us. He intends to bring us to full growth, to the honor and glory of God—and He will definitely do it.

We pray: Lord, fill me and live through me, so that others will see and trust in You. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on July 24, 2024
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights

Reflection Questions:
1. What other things in this world start tiny and end up huge?
2. How have you grown since God first brought you into His family? Name a specific area.
3. If Christ lives in you, what are you going to look like when He’s done with His work?