On a remote Arctic island with a population of less than 3000 inhabitants, a 45’ by 15’ entrance projects out of a mountain buried under snow. It is the entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault 500’ deep in rock. It was built as a long-term seed storage facility to withstand the test of time and threats by natural or manmade disasters. Inside are containers storing 500 seeds for each of 930,000 varieties of food crops. Originally intended for the study and development of plant species, it has become known as the Doom’s Day Vault in case through war, pestilence, or climate change all plant life on earth is destroyed. Of the millions of seed stored, they all have one thing in common—not until someone plants the seed, and it dies, will it germinate, grow, and reproduce. No one knows how long the seeds will be viable. But one insight is a tree, appropriately named Methuselah. It is the oldest seed ever known to germinate. It lay in the ruins of Masada for 2000 years. After scientists placed it in soil it died, sprouted, and is now a healthy, 4-foot-tall date palm tree.
Note how Jesus applied this law of nature to spiritual life. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (Joh 12:24). It sounds strange to our carnal mind, but dying to self is actually positive. Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matt 16:25). Jesus came that we may have life, and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10). Also, like the seed, when we die to self, we bear much fruit. The first step in this process, we must understand God created us for a reason. He did not make us to sit alone as a seed on a shelf or a pew. When Jesus speaks about losing our life, He is not referring to physical death; rather we must die to our desires and our will. We will no longer see ourselves as the reason for our existence or the center of our own little universe. God created every person in the world to love, and use for accomplishing His purpose. Falling into the ‘earth and dying to self’ is not easy nor is it a one-time experience. It is a lifelong daily process. Jesus said we must take up our cross daily and follow Him. Paul wrote, I affirm . . . I die daily (1Cor 15:31).
“I’m just one person and really can’t do much.” How many will sit in church this Sunday with that mentality? Either, they have never realized God made them for a purpose and if they do understand then they are unwilling to fall into the earth and die. If you believe you can’t make a difference, consider one kernel (seed) of corn. When planted, it will produce on average three ears of corn. Each ear of corn has 800 seeds. That multiplied by three means one seed produces 2,400 kernels per stalk. If you plant all of them, the next year they will produce 1,920,000 seeds. That equals 40-60 bushels. Imagine if we planted all these seeds the third year and the amount they could produce. The Doom’s Day Vault contains 44,500,000 seeds. When planted they could replenish the earth in a few years. Christian adherents have reached 2.2 billion people around the world. Visualize the harvest if every believer planted their seed!
Falling into the earth and dying to self requires total commitment and trust in Christ. Trust must continue even when there is no indication of God’s presence or blessing. Self depends on outward assurances. Christians must depend on God’s word and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The fifteenth century theologian, Ignatius of Loyola, said, “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him.”
Reaping after we plant always requires time. When I plant squash seeds, I can expect to eat squash in about six weeks. However, if I plant a pecan, it will take five to seven years to produce pecans. Any seed we sow follows the laws of nature. The same applies to our spiritual seed. Paul reminds us, Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Gal 6:9). I’ve seen children plant their first garden, but after a couple of weeks because they don’t see beans, tomatoes, or cucumbers, they give up and weeds take over. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains (Jas 5:7).
The most encouraging principle of sowing—you reap far more than you sow. My favorite example of someone dying to self is the little boy with five loaves and two fishes. You may not have looked at the story this way, but the little boy planted his lunch into the hands of Jesus. I imagine he was thinking that at least he could at least provide a meal for Jesus. But Jesus multiplied one lunch into thousands of lunches. In fact, it was enough to feed 5000 men along with their wives and children with plenty of leftovers. Are you eating your own lunch or dying to your desire and surrendering it to Jesus?
Sustaining Word for the Week: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine when we fall into the earth and die.