Abiding in Easterనమూనా

ABIDING IN EASTER - LENT DEVOTIONAL by BRYAN CRAIG

DAY 33

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

John 12:23-26 ESV

In November of 2020, I lost my Dad to COVID. It all happened rather quickly in a 3-week time period. It was unexpected and tragic and sad, but I was an eyewitness to a truth that Jesus is stating here. In the midst of my Dad’s death, hundreds, if not thousands of people followed his story and were praying to God for his healing. Countless expressions of love came our way in phone calls, texts, flowers, cards, meals, social media posts. In the spiritual world, death bears great fruit. Jesus’ death, of course, would bear the greatest fruit of all, salvation for all who believe in Him. But I believe Jesus is also talking about “dying to ourselves”, even now, while we are still living. We can choose to put God first, others second and ourselves last. We can become servants, just like Jesus, looking for opportunities to give our lives away on behalf of others. I realize this is very counterintuitive and counter-cultural in this selfish world in which we live, but this is the way of Jesus. This is the way of followers of Jesus.

APPLICATION:

Are you bearing much fruit in life by giving your life away? Spiritually speaking, have you attended your own funeral? Live your life like today is your last day so that when your last day comes, a great fruit will be left behind in your legacy.