John 12 Devotional
John 12: 23 - 26 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.
Application: I remember being young and helping my grandparents plant vegetable seeds in their garden. I remember being in the dirt, I remember tilling the ground, and I remember all the bugs I had to fight away on those hot summer days. Honestly, I did not enjoy the experience, but what I did enjoy was the fresh vegetables that came out of the ground because of the hard work. Jesus was making a similar point when he described the fruitfulness of a kernel of wheat falling to the ground and dying. The spiritual point Jesus was making was “there is no harvest until there is a sacrifice.” Christ makes that point completely clear when He said, “…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.” Now, if He stopped here I don’t think anyone would have any issues with what He said. But, to make sure we don’t miss the point, He goes on to say, “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” This is the principle of sowing and reaping. It is often used for money, but the principle ultimately references our life. You see friend, there is nothing in this life you can put above God. Not even life itself. Yes, it is possible that God could ask for that as well! Did you know there are more Christians being killed today for their faith in Christ than ever before in history? Statistics say there are now more than 200,000 Christians are killed each year for their faith in Christ. Now this is tragic. But, the truth is every Christian will not be killed for Christ. Remember how the Apostle John died? He died an old man. But, he still laid down his life for Jesus. You too must also lay your life down even if you are not a martyr for Jesus. How do you do that? I am glad you asked. Well, Jesus said it Himself! He said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” How is this laying down your life? Well, the word servant is synonymous for a slave, and a slave is one who does not have any rights. Thus, if you give up all your rights to God so that no matter what happens you choose to respond in a way Jesus gets the glory, you are laying down your life for God. For example, remember when Christ said “if someone smacks you on the cheek, turn the other check so they can smack it as well?” Well your choice to give up your rights to defend yourself—your sacrifice, gives God glory. Now, you are a child of the King and as such, you have the right to demand that your Father judges anyone who hurts you. But, because you have laid down your life and are willing to let God get the glory, Jesus asks that you turn the other cheek. Your actions just planted a seed in your attackers’ heart. Now, because of your actions the person who smacked you has the opportunity of seeing God living in you and can submit to His call for their redemption. If you yield to God in this situation, not only will you be credited for the salvation of the person, you will be rewarded for your sacrifice. The point is that if you sacrifice for Christ, you will receive a great reward. Planting seeds is tough, but the rewards are worth it!
Application:
Three action steps:
Take the time to memorize John 12: 23- 26
What is the biggest sacrifice you have made?
What would be the hardest thing you would be willing to sacrifice?
1 comment:
What is the biggest sacrifice you have made?
Once upon a time, I attended a school called Morgan State University. While on winter break, I discovered that a family member didn't have a warm coat. It was very cold on the east coast that year. It snowed in Baltimore and was very cold in South Carolina. She told me that when she was a little girl, she was very sick. She had whooping cough and pneumonia at the same time. I learned about this because I asked her why she coughed so much but didn't seem to have a cold. she told me that when people have lung illnesses, their lungs are never the same again. My coat was much warmer than hers so I told her that we were going to trade coats. I told her I would wear two or three shirts under the lighter coat when I had to go to class. The refectory (cafe) gave away bags of oranges and apples a few times a week and I ate a lot of raw vegetables from the salad bar too. One of the cafe workers said to me, "I bet you never get sick." I laughed but he was right;I didn't get sick that year.
What would be the hardest thing you would be willing to sacrifice?
I don't have anything of value, according to the world. The world loves money, houses, cars, etcetera. I don't have any of that. The only valuable things I own are my life and my Bible(s). My life is valuable to Yah, Yahoshua, and myself. There may come a day when I have to lay down my life for righteousness. That would be a hard sacrifice. But, I'd rather die once and be given everlasting life from Yah and Yahoshua. I wouldn't want to die and burn forever in the lake of fire for not standing up for His laws. That would be two deaths.
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