Bitter Waters Made Sweet

Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Hebrews 12:15 (KJV)

This verse speaks of a root of bitterness. A root of something refers to its cause, origin or source. A root of bitterness is deeply embedded in one’s heart and can grow and penetrate deeper. As time goes on, it can become more deeply rooted if not dealt with, Resentment, hurt, and unforgiveness give the root a deeper hold. Bitterness makes a person sour and shows up in their attitudes, words, and behavior. Bitter root produces bitter fruit, and the deeper the root, the more it affects the fruit. As an unhealthy root can affect a plant’s development, bitterness rooted on our hearts can stunt our growth and cause us to produce fruit with no life in it or no fruit at all. This verse mentions that the root will spring up, or bring forth and produce. The seeds we allow to be planted in us will grow, and if they are bad seeds, the fruit produced will be negative.

And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. Luke 17:6 (KJV)

This says that by faith, we can deal with an entire tree. The sycamine tree is a tough, bitter tree. When we deal with root issues of bitterness, we can apply the faith of Christ. It causes bitter things to be made sweet.

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, Exodus 15:23-25 (KJV)

Bitter experiences can cause us to become bitter. Don’t allow what’s around you to get inside you. You’ll sour on life and develop a bad, negative attitude. Don’t allow bitterness to poison you and cause you to die where you’re at. The tree in this passage is a type of the cross. Jesus took our bitterness and gave us His sweetness. When we receive Him, we can have all that Christ purchased for us at the tree; the cross. The act of throwing the tree in the water is a picture of us acting by faith and applying what Jesus has done for us. We must apply the cross of Christ to any bitterness in us or around us to make us sweet again.

By faith, apply the cross and speak forth your redemption, declaring the Lord as your Healer to be healed and freed of all bitterness. This will make you happy, positive, liberated people of God. Life can try to make us bitter, but when we throw the tree of Christ in the waters of life, things become sweet again. And the waters that flow out of us will bring life to others and not bitterness and death.