Read: John 12:23-35
One of my chores as a child was to watch over large thin spreads of rice grains as they dry on the side of the street or plaza. After harvest, the grains need to be completely moisture free before being put away for either consumption or for next season’s seedlings.
The sweltering heat is good for the rice spread, but definitely not for the ones tasked to guard it from unwanted takers, or, more aptly, peckers – the persistent chickens. Why scratch on the ground endlessly when there is a smorgasbord of perfectly dirt-free grains just lying around.
But the grueling task is of extreme importance because moisture would wreak havoc on stored sacks of rice. The drying process not only keeps mold at bay but it also ensures the success of the next farming season. As in traditional agriculture, only dried kernels may be used for the next generation of crops.
If you come to think of it, the drying process is a process of dying, because it eliminates every bit of water from the grain. Water is the basic necessity of life, and without it, life is not possible. But, remember, only dried kernels may be used for planting.
The Lord Jesus Christ likened His death to that of a kernel of grain falling into the earth so that His death may produce life in many others. In His parable of the kernel of wheat we read, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there, will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him,” (John 12:24-26).
This is an example of Christ’s method of using everyday life circumstances to teach. His rural audience would have easily understood that a single grain of wheat could produce more if it is completely dried and buried in the ground. Whether or not they grasped that He was actually talking about Him needing to die so that many may live, that we don’t know.
As present day believers, we do have the tremendous blessing of knowing the meaning and implications of this parable. We praise God for His written words preserved for us and for our pastors headed by the apostle and his deputy teaching us the surer word of prophecy. We know fully that He was predicting and alluding to His life-giving death. He became the embodiment of that kernel of wheat, and because He died, we now have life. He perished in order to proliferate, and we are the fruits of His proliferation.
I want to remind you that you, too, are a kernel of grain, and daily, as you serve God faithfully, you are laying your life that you and many others may live spiritually. When you conduct your ministry, when you give, when you pray, when you fast, when you serve, you’re laying your life like a kernel on the ground, and you are blessing others by your life, particularly the church, and your life is proliferating more lives for God. Don’t give up, because the more you die, the more you live.
Reflect:
In what way or ways are you “dying” like a kernel of grain in your service to God, and in what ways do you feel that the more you die the more you live.
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