Die… To Bring Forth Much Fruit.

In John 12:24, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

When I read that this morning, of course the first thing I thought of is how Jesus was describing how He would die, and fall into the ground, alone… but then rise again, bringing forth much fruit… the eternal redemption of millions of souls.

But the verse that follows is one of those “whosoever” verses. Verse 25 says, “He (or whosoever) that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” Then He ties those 2 verses together, by saying in verse 26, “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me…”

So you want to keep your life unto life eternal? Hate your life in this world.
You want to bring forth much fruit? Follow Jesus. Fall into the ground and die.

Hating your life is not some miserable, down in the dumps, negative, self-pitying, maybe even suicidal mindset. And it doesn’t mean hating your circumstances. Rather, it’s like you can’t stand living your life for yourself. You ONLY feel like your life is worth something, when you’ve given it to Jesus, and you’re living only for Him! Those who hate their life in this world… who see any life apart from God as worthless and detestable… should have no hesitancy about giving their life totally into God’s hands, who can take their “worthless” life, and transform it into something of great value in His kingdom.

Then what about this “fall into the ground, and die.”? Well, for one thing, “into the ground” is a real low place… a very humble place… even below the soles of men’s feet. But then a dead man would have no problem with that, would he? Colossians 3:3 says, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” If your life is truly hid in God, then you won’t be concerned with how people are treating you, but rather, how they are treating God; and you will pray that He will deal with them, with the same grace and mercy with which He has dealt with you.

So are we supposed to let people walk all over us? Only in the same way that Jesus let people walk all over Him. Check out Matthew, Chapter 5, where Jesus commands us to love our enemies, go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, etc., and sums it up in verse 48 with, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” He’s telling us that all these things that He’s commanding us to do, are what the Father has done, and is doing. You don’t think God would tell us to be like Him, and then expect us to do something He wouldn’t do… do you?

When we are truly dead with Christ, then the promise of Colossians 3:4 will follow: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” Now that’s worth “dying” for!