Day 12 - A Grain of Wheat Must Die

John 12:24-24 - "Listen carefully: unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds onto life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal."

I love this verse, because the metaphor that Jesus uses here makes perfect sense to me. There is absolutely no question about what He's saying. Jesus is giving us this clear and direct metaphor of something as simple as wheat to show that in order to be fulfilled in this life and the next, we have to completely give over our life over to Christ. He will fulfill His promises in our life, making us brand new each day, and saving our soul just for Him to something that is real, something that is true.

I don't know about you, but this feels like a breath of fresh air. Thinking about doing things on my own really stresses me out. I don't know what the outcome will be, why I am really doing them, and it makes my life feel like it's spinning out of control. Unfortunately, I tend to get in this pattern sometimes, where I forget to give things over to God each and every day. To cast my burdens onto Him. But this verse, allows us to see that if we do that, if we serve Him, live our lives on purpose (not the next deadline), then He will make us new creations in Him. He will give us a new life. Not to say that we won't have stressful days, but the end result will be so much sweeter, knowing that this stressful day is not all that life is about.

So, I encourage you, if you have not made a decision about following Christ yet, spend some time deciding today, praying today. Cast your cares upon the Lord. He will give you real and eternal life!

Jesus, I pray today that we would be followers of You in every way. That our lives would not be focused on us, that we would not just hold onto it; but that we would give our whole lives to you. We know You can make us brand new, we can cast our cares on You and trust You for full and eternal life. Amen