Last summer, I returned to my large rose bed after two growing seasons of neglect. A shoulder injury and the surgery that followed had kept me from tending it. The roses were still alive, but the grass had spread everywhere.

As I knelt in the dirt pulling weeds, I noticed something beneath the surface. The grass roots were tightly woven together. When I pulled one clump, others resisted. They were intertwined, strengthening one another, spreading together.

They looked like a net.

A net woven that tightly would make any fisherman proud.

And that thought led me to the words of Christ.

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
(Matthew 4:19, NKJV)

Fishing in Jesus’ day was not done with a single strand of line. It was done with nets. Nets had to be woven carefully. If there were gaps, the fish escaped. If the strands were weak, the catch was lost.

Strength came from what was woven together.

Joined and Knit Together

Scripture describes the church in similar language:

“From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
(Ephesians 4:16, NKJV)

Joined. Knit together.

Every believer is a strand. Every part supplies something necessary. Alone, a strand accomplishes little. Woven together, it becomes strong enough to gather.

Ecclesiastes reminds us:

“And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12, NKJV)

God built resilience into what is intertwined.

Rooted in Christ

There is a reason those grassroots were difficult to pull. They were connected. Beneath the soil, unseen work was happening. They spread because they were woven.

But Christians are not meant to spread aimlessly. We are meant to be rooted in Christ.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith…”
(Colossians 2:6–7, NKJV)

Rooted in Him. Built up in Him. Established in the faith.

When believers are rooted in Christ and woven together in love and truth, something powerful happens. Growth follows.

Acts 2 describes believers who were together, unified in purpose, praising God. And what was the result?

“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
(Acts 2:47, NKJV)

The Lord added.

The net was working.

No Gaps in the Net

Jesus prayed:

“That they all may be one… that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
(John 17:21, NKJV)

Unity is not sentimental. It is missional.

If believers are divided, there are gaps. If pride or bitterness pulls strands apart, souls slip through. But when Christians are joined and knit together in truth, love, and shared purpose, the net holds.

What if we wove ourselves together intentionally?

What if we strengthened one another daily?

What if we refused to let division weaken the structure?

A net woven that tightly gathers much.

The Ponderings of a Gardener

As I tugged at those woven roots last summer, I could not ignore the lesson beneath my hands. God designed strength into what is intertwined.

He calls His people to be fishers of men.

When we are rooted in Christ, joined together in love, and united in purpose, we become strong enough for the Master’s use. We become a net without gaps.

And a net woven that tightly would make any fisherman proud.