The Death of a Seed

John 12:23-25

 

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

                Here we see Jesus talking first about his impending encounter with the Cross. In this account He is also explaining to us a very important principle of the faith. It is a principle that many don’t practice as often as they should. The principle is simply allowing yourself to die so that others may live through your sacrifice and more importantly the sacrifice of Christ.

                What Jesus is saying here is that while a seed is still hanging onto the plant, it is alive and comfortable. As soon as the seed falls from the wheat, then and only then, can it multiply itself. Wow! The first question that comes to mind is how can I die?

                However, before we can answer this question, I believe that we must first look at an even more important question, what is death? We all know what death is in a physical sense; it is where life once existed, but no longer exists. So, how does this help us understand what Jesus was saying?

                Jesus was showing us that in the Spirit we must die. When someone comes into relationship with Christ, too often they try to “keep alive” things from their past. What Jesus is saying to us today is that we must snuff out anything that is not of Him, we must let go of the plant.

He says this very clearly in verse 25 “The man who loves his life will lose it…” If you truly have a relationship with Jesus, you will love your life! Just take a moment and think about what your life once was before you gave Him your heart. Back to the first question, how can I die?

The answer is very simple, let go of sin, it needs to be in your past. Which sin specifically you ask? How about selfishness? Don’t act like a fool in front of non-Christians when you profess to be a Christ Follower.

 I understand that we all sin, but let’s not do it in front of the unsaved. Most of the time when someone who has been saved longer than a year or so, sins in front of the heathen, they are doing so  on purpose. They can help it! They are just being a willing stumbling block! Instead being on your knees, you’re on your back taking a nap! Instead of picking up a phone to speak into someone’s life, we choose to remain on tree with an Xbox controller in our hands.

I like to leave you with a challenge when I write, but this time the challenge comes from Jesus. The challenge is this, allow yourself to die so that others may come to life through your sacrifice. The only thing that you take with you when you die is what you leave behind. Will you leave a harvest behind you for future generations or will you just simply stay attached to the plant?

~ by crossovera2 on March 4, 2008.