John 12:24
“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.”
In order to produce a crop there must be a death. That sounds pretty profound, but it is the fundamental truth that the wheat farmer knows very well. He takes perfectly good seed and scatters it on the ground. To be precise, he uses equipment to plant the seeds at just the right depth and spacing to produce his crop.
After the seed is in the ground it must die to itself. Never again will that single grain of wheat be what it was before. As the soil surrounds it and the moisture seeps down to the level of the seed, it swells and breaks open. A blade of grass appears and works its way to the surface. It is still nothing but grass, but there is a harvest day coming!
After weeks and even months of growth, a head forms on the blade and not just one grain is found, but many grains fill the head. Through the hot days of ripening, the grain is ready to harvest and that one grain that went into the ground and died has produced a bountiful increase.
In the human realm we all too often hold tightly to life in order to serve one’s own interests. It is a constant preoccupation with self. True giving to the Lord requires dying to ourselves. As long as we do, we will not produce the way the Lord wants us to. The secret to prosperity in the spiritual realm is by dying to self. My prayer is that I will let go of the trinkets of this world and produce the spiritual bread of life.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil