Good Monday morning (3-29-10),

Jesus taught that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it will never yield a crop. He explained that only when that grain, or that seed, dies and goes into the ground, only then will it produce many other grains and result in a rich harvest.

Think of yourself as a grain of wheat. You have two choices.

One is to remain on the stalk, holding onto your life, holding on by your fingernails, grabbing tight when the winds blow and the rains drench. Think of yourself holding on for dear life, afraid, or unwilling, or just plain too self-centered to let go of your stuff, your place, your plans.

Can you picture that?

Hold that thought and let’s go to another Jesus teaching. In Matthew and in Mark He told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. This command (it is not a suggestion) could be said this way, “Go, give your lives to this cause, die to your own desires and follow me and the result of giving your life to this activity will be that your life touches many lives and there is a great and rich harvest of souls.”

Jesus wanted us to count the cost, and then He wanted us to be willing to pay the price. And the price wasn’t figured in money, or in riches, or in prestige. The cost was counted in life — our version of life vs. His version of life.

You see, we all start out believing we are the center of the universe. As children we are confident the world revolves around us. To some extent, that needs to be true. The problem for many of us is that we never lose that illusion. We become adults, and we are still convinced that God put us here to satisfy our own lusts and desires. We think about ourselves, and our things, all week long and then think about God about 3 hours a week.

And yet, Jesus explained what was necessary in order to follow Him. “Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” In other words, Who ever has no love for or concern for or regard for his life on earth, but despises it in favor of choosing to live life as God determines it should be lived…that person will preserve his life forever and ever.

How many times have I expressed my sincere desire to serve God? I’m sure God has kept count, but I have not. I only know the number has to be way up there. And yet this simple principle has escaped me: serve myself = unable to serve God.

Put another way it reads like this: submit myself/abandon myself/replace my will with His = able to serve God.

Whether I want to see people saved or healed or set free, or all of the above, there is no way I can multiply, or produce a crop of others who know God as savior, healer, or deliverer, until I have turned loose of my plans for myself. I must abandon my self-love so I can love the God kind of life.

So here’s the second choice. We can let go. We can turn lose of the stalk, which represents our life lived our way. We can choose to fall to the earth. This falling is symbolic of trusting Jesus. We fall into His plans for us, plans we cannot imagine, plans which do not feel secure at first. Falling into uncertainty can be frightening.

But I know this. Although I may not know what my future holds, I know He holds my future. I can be absolutely certain that when I fall into that soil He has prepared for me that my life will become fruitful.

When I choose to let go and let God, I know I will be able to, at the end of my life, look back and see not just one seed that fulfilled it’s time and died. At the end of a life lived for God I will look back and see the multitudes that are part of the rich harvest of life that came from my decision to die to self and live for God.

“If anyone serves Me, he must continue to follow Me (to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying) and wherever I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”

John 12:26, Amplified.

Laurie Gross