No Death, No Fruitfulness

​John 12:24 opens up an aspect of the work of the cross in us that is sometimes overlooked: the principle of the cross in the life of the believer as the way of true fruitfulness. There is a wonderful paradox in God’s ways when He tells us that ‘…unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.’ Jesus applied this principle of creation to not only his own life but to our own. No death, no fruitfulness!

How does this work out in the practical realities of our own lives or is it only true for those who have been called to lay down their lives for the sake of Christ in other times and other cultures? I trust we will see that out of every ‘death’ comes a lasting and increasing fruitfulness: an abundant harvest of righteousness and peace in our own characters and in the lives of others. This is no heavy burden to wear but a liberating truth that frees and strengthens us to embrace whatever painful trials -'little deaths' - the Father calls us to bear for His glory.