In this world there are inescapable laws. These laws are most
evident in nature but are true in the spiritual. Some seem paradoxical. A seed must first die if it is to live and
unless a plant is growing it is, in fact, dying.
It’s the same in our relationship with Jesus. To have a
relationship with God we must first be willing to die. 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.” If we are
to live in the kingdom of God, we must be willing to die; and we must be
willing to produce. We must be willing
to die to the identity of what we think, what others think and learn what our Creator
thinks.
Once a seed has died,
it begins to establish roots. Those
roots are designed to draw in the nutrients that will confirm, establish and
enable it to become what it is designed to do/become. Once the identity is established it begins to
produce fruit; to replicate its own identity.
This leads me to my second point. A plant is either growing
or dying. If a plant doesn’t find water and is unable to draw in nutrients – it
will become assimilated into the environment in which it has been placed. A plant will not survive without water and
nutrients – and since it is not growing to reproduce – it will eventually die.
It is the same for us. Many of us have felt the love of God
and the prick of desire to be like Jesus.
But if we fail to stay watered and in touch with the source of life, the
people, and the mentors He has placed in our lives – we often begin to question
whether the experience was real – is the seed still there?
Squash harvest from seeds found in ancient clay pot. |
Jesus said it this way, “I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except through me”. He’s still there – standing at the door.