"The Christian is strong or weak depending on how closely he has cultivated the knowledge of God."
- A.W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, Chapter 2, pg 14
The book "The Root of the Righteous" is a collection of essays by the 20th century preacher and writer A.W. Tozer. All the essays deal with the important biblical truth that in order to truly live a godly life that will bear much fruit, one must first be grounded in, or "rooted" in, God Himself. As Jesus stated "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:5. Tozer's book helps give both biblical and experiential counsel to help ensure one is indeed rooted in Jesus Christ on a day to day basis.
Tozer goes through the many areas of a Christian's life that needs to be rooted in God, from such angles as spending much of your time with God, and being around others who also sacrifice their time for the Lord, so they can help you be grounded in Him; Tozer stated it this way, “No man has any right to offer advice who has not first heard God speak. No man has any right to counsel others who is not ready to hear and follow the counsel of the Lord. True moral wisdom must always be an echo of God’s voice.”
Tozer goes through a host of other issues that a Christian must deal heartily with to ensure rootedness in God, such as developing a strong prayer life that parallels your life, as he wrote it, “Prayer at its best is the expression of the total life... our prayers are only as powerful as our lives... we pray only as well as we live.” Another important aspect of the Christian life that must be attained in order to exercise daily righteousness is having a thankful heart. Tozer explains the importance of thankfulness as follows, “Thanksgiving has great creative power. The heart that is constantly overflowing with gratitude will be safe from those attacks of resentfulness and gloom that bother so many religious persons. A thankful heart cannot be cynical.”
Tozer goes through a whole list of other important and meaningful categories of the godly life needed to keep us thoroughly rooted in God, which makes "The Root of the Righteous" a meaningful resource to ensure we follow Jesus' commands of "remaining in him to produce godly fruit." As Tozer concludes...
“In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.”
- A.W. Tozer, The Root of Righteousness, Chapter 18, pg 78-79
