Profits In This World

Please enjoy this chapter from my book - "Truly, I Tell You"  Studying the words of Jesus - Book 1. Get the E Book at  http://simplycindyrowe.mysimplestore.com/

“Very truly I tell you, 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.” John 12:24

The inner drive to protect our life makes it hard to give up our life to God. However, that is just what Jesus is telling us is the most profitable. In this account noted in the verse above found in John chapter 12, Jesus is greeted by some non-Jewish followers and they say they want to follow Jesus too. Jesus answers by explaining that all of His followers will have to follow Him wherever He goes and then He tells them how His life will include death.  This confuses them because part of the prophesy about the Messiah they had heard from their Jewish teachers told them that the Messiah would live forever.  In another part of Old Testament prophesy, quoted by Jesus in John 12:38, Isaiah the prophet explained that some would see but not believe and some would have their eyes closed by God so their hearts could be opened.  Jesus was talking about the birthing of faith. 

I love the visual that Jesus gives as He explains how He will meet death.  He uses the words “lifted up” in John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” It sounds so poetic, doesn’t it? Of course, as His followers, we would follow Him to this sweet sounding finale. To be lifted up (pride for ourselves) and have all men drawn to us (life’s purpose and impact obtained) — isn’t that what we all strive for everyday? It would be a great way to go — except we know now that being lifted up was a reference to the cross.  Not so sweet sounding now, huh?  Although, what He did does still hold the greatest impact on man.  In the words from John12:24 Jesus tells us that unless a seed dies it cannot reproduce.

Jesus let us off the hook, so we don’t need to follow Him literally to the cross.  As indicated in John 12:36 putting our trust in the light (Jesus) is what is needed. Trusting is how we follow him.  To trust Jesus means we give Him control of our lives, living for His purposes and not holding on to our life in this world. In verse 25 of John 12 Jesus says if we hold on to our life we will lose it and in losing it we gain it forever. It is in this letting go that we find our own death.  To uncover what we need to let go of in our life, we have to examine what has the highest cost for us to give up. Jesus sacrificed His life so to find our forfeiture we must also find a sacrifice.

Mark recalls in his Gospel a few other words spoken by Jesus in this same moment.  “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34). Our death comes in the denial of self. Like the weight of a carrying a cross, our cross is the weight of letting go. I don’t know about you but I find letting go is hard. It can be a heavily weighted decision and it can feel heavy to our hearts and minds as we leave the comfort of the familiar and step out in faith. Things we hold onto may also be things we have created to help us cope.  Letting go can mean giving up the security we feel from our coping mechanisms however most of the time these are the very things holding us back. Clinging to Jesus is the only sure hope for real security.

In Mark 8:32 there is an example of someone holding onto something that was meant to be released.  Peter tries to talk to Jesus about saying inflammatory things to the other disciples, like the fact that the Jewish elders and priests will soon reject him. Was Peter trying to be sure the followers wouldn’t get scared and leave?  Was he trying to keep Jesus safe? Whatever the reason, Jesus rebukes him and we hear the famous line from Jesus, “Get behind me Satan!”. Jesus wanted Peter to trust Him, not trust the circumstances, the people, or traditional assurances. Jesus is asserting that faith in those things instead of God means creating an alignment with Satan. He makes this bold statement to get Peter’s attention.  And it worked.


The next statement Jesus makes after “Get behind me Satan” is not as dramatic, but it’s actually more important to note.  Jesus said, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”  This leads us back to trusting Jesus and taking on the mind of Christ. We have heard, time and time again in the scriptures, Jesus state that He wasn’t doing or saying anything that hadn’t come from the Father.  He took on the mind of God the Father and trusted Him. By doing this He was led to the point of His cross.  He couldn’t have come to this point and gone to the cross without knowing that the Father was behind His moves.  We can also have that built-in confidence as we live for Jesus if we set our minds on the things of God. The “What Would Jesus Do?” movement has become a bit passé, but it is still is a very good way to make decisions.


Having the mind of Christ and this new confidence doesn’t mean we won’t have those moments where we ask God if this is really what He had in mind.  Even Jesus experiences this, as described in John 12:27: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” He admits His heart is troubled and wonders if He should pray to be saved from the moment to come.  Even though He knows He was made for this moment, God the Father blesses Him with a word from above for all to hear.  The story continues in verses 29 to 33 when Jesus explains that this audible voice was for the benefit of the people — a nice way to say, “Any questions - Talk to the voice!”.  Boy, I could have used that voice, heard by all, at several times in my life!! 


In the verse we read at the beginning Jesus told us that to die means producing many seeds. Just like Jesus would also impact many from the cross, we too can have an impact for many. In Mark 8:36 Jesus asks, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, just to lose his soul?”  My plans are only worth profits that can be gained in this world.  To be used by God in His plans provides an eternal reward for more than myself.  Letting God use us how He wants means He is the farmer of the larger crop. My part as the seed is to die to my own plans and let Him use me to produce the life He has planned. 

**Lord, I want to be used by you, but being uncomfortable and sacrifice is not something I do well; in fact I shy away from it. Give me the strength to see where you want me to grow and help me get through the uncomfortable season of having the seed of life buried and dying.  Forgive me for giving up too early and digging up that seed in the past, only to find my profit was limited and unfulfilling. I say now that I trust you to see me through to full profits in the way you intend and for your Glory! **

Click this link to see seeds sprout to life – notice three of the seeds decide to stay the same as they are and never see above the dirt.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26AhcKeEbE&feature=player_embedded