JOHN 12:20-26 – “Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 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.”

THEME OF THE DAY: THE PATH TO A FRUITFUL LIFE.  Every Christian wants to be a fruit-bearing follower of the Lord Jesus.  We long to be used by Him to encourage His people, share Him with unbelievers, and experience the joy of making disciples. And God desires for us to be fruitful.  But before we can get there, we need to know what the necessary path is to be a fruit-bearing disciple.

First, here are a few things that are not the path to fruit-bearing.  Let’s begin with Christian ministry.  Yes, it is important and every Christian should be involved in ministry for the Lord in His church.  However, ministry alone will not produce fruit.  Read about the church at Ephesus in the first letter Jesus wrote to the seven churches of the Revelation – Revelation 2:1-7. This church was full of good ministry for the Lord, yet they lacked the key necessity for fruitful ministry – love.  So, ministry alone never produces lasting spiritual fruit.

There is another thing that, while close to Christian ministry, is not on the path to fruit-bearing. It is running ragged with a flurry of activities associated with serving people.  Like service, this is important, but we may find ourselves just filling our lives with meeting the needs of people and never producing lasting spiritual fruit in our or their lives.  It can be just a plethora of acts of benevolence lacking the gospel and spiritual fruit.

The proper path to a fruitful life begins with today’s scripture.  It is painful and might not be the way we would imagine leads to lasting spiritual fruit, but it does.  It is dying to self.  It is daily dying to self.  It is getting so close to the Lord Jesus in our relationship with Him that His selfless life replaces our selfish life.  The illustration Jesus uses is that of a grain of wheat. It must die to be fruitful.

As Christians, we must die to our desires, wills, pursuits, goals, and everything else that draws our attention to I, me, my, and mine and away from our union in Christ’s death and resurrection.  And death to self is not easy.  The German theologian, Dietrick Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by Adolf Hitler for the faith, wrote in his book The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man to Himself, He calls Him to die.”

We must daily die to self so that the life of Christ, the only fruitful life, may be lived through us.  And the more we see the beauty of Christ, the more we welcome this daily death. As this occurs, the path to a fruitful life is traveled.

PRAYER: Father, develop within me a submissive spirit to surrender all my life to Your will and desires.

REFLECTION: The fruitful life for Christ is not in a flurry of spiritual service and activity but daily dying to self.