Lord's Day Devotion - Except a Grain of Wheat

Did you know seeds must die before they can sprout and grow and produce?  Here's what God's Word says about it.

"And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  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."  (John 12:23-25 ESV)

Couple those verses with these from Galatians 6:7-8...

"Do not be deceived:  God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

Whenever farmers plant crops, they do what they can:  tilling the soil, fertilizing it; irrigating it; de-bugging it; and maybe even praying for it.

God is busy with the crop too, making the sun shine upon it, sending His rain.  He's the one that allows that grain of wheat, or whatever had been planted, to germinate, send roots downward and sprouts upward until the seed becomes a plant onwards to maturity.

The farmer can then do more of his bit by reaping what he had sown; all conditions being favorable.

What happened to that seed in the dark, dark lonely place within the womb of the  earth?  According to the John 12:24 verse, the seed "had to 'die'".  It had to die in order to bring forth life and "much fruit".

The connection is obvious to us that that is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us.  He died on the cross, yes, and He was buried.  He remained alone in the bowels of the earth, encased for three days in Joseph of Arimathea's new tomb (John 19:38-42).  Jesus rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) that third day bringing new life, that is eternal, with Him.

God sent Jesus to earth to reap a bountiful harvest.  God "planted" Jesus and has reaped many multitudes of Jesus people (children of God [John 1:11-13]) who have His Holy Spirit indwelling and God's gift of eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8).

Those of us who belong to God through Jesus Christ by having accepted his offer of salvation remember this on Lord's Day.  As we partake of the bread and drink of the wine we recall this act of selfless love.

May we in turn also 'lose' our lives for Christ by serving Him in wholehearted devotion as he has ordained in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10) and may we reap a bountiful harvest for His glory and honor.

                                                            ~ERC  2018~