There are certain laws that God has instituted that are irrevocable such as the law of sowing and reaping. Sowing and reaping bring together one of the most fundamental principles in life. Death precedes life and loss preempts gain. In other words, you must die to live and lose to gain.
Jesus said, "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33). Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" He also said, "God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him." The world does not understand this principle. Sowing and reaping is not about self-gain, it is more about self-depletion to the extent that nothing rooted in self remains. The only things that take priority at that point are the things of God coupled with the realization that our lives do not belong to us, they belong to God. We are not our own for we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).
The seed that is sown dies in order to reproduce and multiply. It is obvious that in the ground, the seed loses everything including its identity. It is broken down into bits that hardly resemble it, all in the process of yielding fruit. It is always tempting to think that sowing calls for some seed that we must find but ironically we are the part of the seed. No wonder the Bibles states in Romans 12, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (v.1)
Our reasonable service is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, die to self, in order to yield fruit. If we offer our bodies as seed, what do we reap? LIFE.
Jesus offered His life for the redemption of mankind. If we are His followers, we must follow His example. Jesus' sacrifice cannot be repeated, it was done once and for all and it was complete and will forever be complete. However in a micro sense (so to speak), our responsibility of winning souls may well result in persecution, imprisonment, and/or death. Are you prepared to die for Jesus? That is a question every true Christian must ask themselves. The idea that Christians are chosen by God to primarily live and pursue happiness and wealth on earth is alien to Scripture; it is a thought from the pit of hell. Jesus rejected that idea when tempted by the devil in Matthew 4. A description of that encounter is as follows:
"Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” (Matthew 4:8-10)
Remember Jesus is fully Man and fully God and He was tempted as a man because it is impossible to tempt God. God does not have most of the longings of human beings. All the disciples of Jesus were murdered for the sake of the Gospel except Apostle John and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him. Apostle Paul was beheaded. A mindset that rejects suffering, hardship, persecution for the sake of the Gospel is not of God. Any thought that propagates the idea of the wealth of the unbelievers given to the believers is heresy. Jesus did not teach that and the apostles did not mention it. Moreover, why would God deprive the unbelievers of their possessions to bless believers when He can bless them (believers) out of His abundance?
The Word of God is seed and so are our lives. God expects us to sow our lives without question. Richard Wumbrand, Jim Elliot, Mary Slessor, Pa Elton, and more are modern day examples of people who sowed their lives for Jesus. The death of Jim Elliot contributed immensely to the salvation of the people who murdered him - the people of Ecuador. His wife returned to the same people who were responsible for his death and consequently there was a revival in that area. Any attempt to sow the Word of God without a corresponding embrace of sacrifice and death to self is unproductive.
I believe that Apostle Paul was thinking about the requirements for fruitfulness when he penned, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain....For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me." (Philippians 1:21, 29). Are you willing to die, to be totally lost in Christ, to let go and let God, to abandon your ideas and take on God's ideas? That is the bottomline. Nothing that is done with an air of self-importance, self-aggrandizement, self-centredness no matter how small the degree, will ever be successful in the eyes of God. We are not given life to live for ourselves; we are given the privilege to live so that God and God alone might be glorified.
Jesus said in John 12: 24-26, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."
It is clear that Jesus was referring to the necessity of death as a prerequisite for fruitfulness. Service without followership is simply unacceptable. In following, we do not come up with our own rules; we stick to the rules of our Shepherd, Master, Lord and King because He knows best. We do not get to pick and choose. By faith, we surrender joyfully saying with all amount of seriousness and commitment, 'THY WILL BE DONE'. And that would be for everyday of our lives. It is quite interesting that Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23)
Will you deny yourself today and pick up your cross and follow Jesus? You see, the cross is a symbol of death and dying to self has a lot of benefits. For one, you will no longer be reacting to the whims and caprices of others. You will not be distracted from your Kingdom responsibilities. You will have an eternal perspective. You will live only for Jesus and wherever He tells you to go, you will go; whatever He tells you to do, you will do; whatever He tells you to say, you will say without fear or favour. Your life will have the singular purpose of glorifying God and it shall be a fruitful. It is my prayer that you give up you and embrace and abide in Jesus. Have a blessed day.
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