John 12:23-28 | Amazing Words
23Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I 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. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!”
Those words amaze me. Jesus, in all of His wisdom, knowledge and understanding says something so simple and yet vastly profound. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed…” As the end of His earthly mission is in view, He communicates a truth to the disciples then that is true for each believer today: we cannot gain without sacrifice. It is through sacrificing our wants, that we learn to live for His. It is through laying down our desires, that His desires become our priority and focus in life. We CAN hold on to what we have, but it wont produce more than what it is…a single seed. But when we lay aside our desires, dying to ourselves, and get invested and planted in what our King desires, then we will see fruitfulness…a harvest that goes beyond a “single seed”.
Jesus understood the price that was going to be given. “Now my heart is troubled…” But even with that awareness, His purpose was the most important thing. He was able to stick to it, because He understood it.
Imagine what could happen if people would take the purpose that God had set aside for their lives with that type of commitment! Imagine if we were a little more willing to “fall to the ground” so that we would not “remain just a single seed.”
Have I totally reached that point. Not yet. I daily have to die to things…but it is my desire to become more for the Kingdom, which means that I need to set aside my wants, worries and desires and get myself more invested in His purpose.