"THE WEEKLY WORD"

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit!  John 12:24

            It’s not a fun concept to think about death for some. I mean it’s just not. For all people. It’s scary. It’s an individual journey. We know nothing about the process. Accept, maybe it’s not all that scary in a vacuum. We know heaven awaits. We know all they’ll be is praise and rejoicing! However, the process of death is so tough for us to wrap our minds around because we just cannot plan for it.

            But this verse goes even deeper. Jesus says that death is necessary for life to happen. Death produces fruit. And the only way that fruit will be produced is if we’re willing to die! Wow! If we’re willing to die, as if Jesus, we had a choice!

            Well, the death here Jesus describes is an earthly death, if you will. We all have moments where death is happening right? We all give up things, must surrender things, have to say goodbye to things, people, stages of life. We must part with loved things, prized things, cherish memories, unforgettable experiences. We must experience closure, ends of impressive stuff, and perhaps letting go of everything we’ve known, a complete restructuring. We all must repeatedly die!

            However, the other part of it is, we all experience life. We all have new beginnings, exciting ventures, budding friendships, family moments, things we can embrace, new possibilities, wonderful opportunities, things which have purposeful power, impactful imprints, even if they don’t last forever. Nothing lasts forever, accept of course, God’s love within and around us. And that’s why it’s a joy to have death, in order that we might have life!

            I’ve really had a challenging time with all this. There are some deep friends from my past, I’ve had to let go of them because they don’t want to connect with me anymore for whatever reason. However, I have terrific new friends and a wonderful wife and great family relations as well.

            In the church and as followers of Jesus, we will experience death along the way, disappointments where people aren’t with us, aren’t agreeing with us, displease us. And yet, there’s life, abundant life in how Jesus wants us to welcome people, love people, and remember what really matters as we produce a healthy, faithful and most importantly fruitful harvest as we praise him, love him, and follow him!

            So, this week, just remember, it’s okay to die some, because as God leads you and as you follow Jesus, you’ll find you’ll be living a lot more! Just be willing to experience and maybe just a bit suffer a death, so you might really enjoy and appreciate life! Now that’s being a true harvester, a real fruit-bearer!

To God be the glory,

Pastor Brandon