John 12:23-26
There are hundreds of varieties of seeds. Pumpkin seeds, orange seeds, watermelon seeds, maple seeds, cucumber seeds, mustard seeds and of course those seeds Johnny Appleseed used to spread apple trees? Yes, apple seeds.
Seeds are great, because you can do all sorts of craft things with seeds. You can cover objects with seeds and you can make pictures of seeds. I had an aunt who made several pictures using all kinds of seeds. They were very clever and unique. Here are a couple pictures of pictures made from seeds. The seeds can look nice for a long time, but that’s not what the seeds were for.
If you want to have more seeds, what do you do with the seed? You let it die by putting it in the ground. The children had a project this week with seeds and a flower pot. If they follow the directions, they will have a flower that will rise up and grow from their work. The seed does nothing. It is either sitting alone minding its own business or sitting with a group of seeds as in a picture.
Consider if you were the seed. That poor seed is taken by the giant hands of a child and then thrust into the dirt. The seed cries out, “I’m dying! I’m dying…I’m dead.” And what happens? A little moisture, a little warmth and the miracle of God causes the seed to germinate and begin growing. First, the roots and then the leaves start growing up into the air, where it produces fruit and more seeds.
That’s what God does with people. People are made in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities. It is only when the seed dies to itself, will the miracle of God happen. God doesn’t put you into the ground, but when you die to your wants and your life, you die to yourself. John wrote,
· 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
· 24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
· 25 “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
· 26 “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (John 12:23-26 NKJ)
As a seed, you realize you can never have the life God meant you to have. As a seed, you realize you can never produce anything by yourself. So you trust God’s way of salvation. What is that?
The children have been learning in Vacation Bible School that Jesus is their friend. They have been learning that Jesus will always love them. They learned to respond with, “He’s my friend!” Jesus is a friend to everyone who will humble himself before God and trust what Jesus has done for them. What has He done? He left the glory of heaven for the emptiness of earth. He left the purity of heaven to enter into the sin of the earth. He left the perfection of heaven and joined the abandonment of earth. Then He lived a perfect life, so that when He went on the cross, He would be the Lamb of God that had no sin, no imperfection and no blemish. He was perfect and when God poured His wrath on Him, He satisfied the righteousness of God. He satisfied the righteousness of God! Then Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished!” He paid the penalty for the sins of the world, so that whoever believes in Him should have eternal life.
When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, when you trust in Him as your Savior, when you accept what God did for you through Jesus on the cross, you die to yourself and God works a miracle in your life. He regenerates you by His Holy Spirit. That regeneration allows you to put roots into God’s Word and then you start growing up with leaves and spiritual fruit. Will you trust in Jesus today? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Shepherding Truth 