The Secret Of the Seed

The Secret Of the Seed
John R. Petrilli

Germination. It happens every day all around the world as a tiny entity called a seed chock full of potential interacts with the nutrients and water in the soil and opens up. This miniscule reservoir holds the genetic material that makes it capable of becoming so much more than what it is. And so many and so profound are the spiritual lessons we can learn from the process that brings a seed to a flowering and fruitful plant. It’s no wonder that the seed is used to illustrate truths about the Christian life over and over again. Here’s just a few samples.

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY REQUIRES COMPLETE SURRENDER OF SELF WILL. John 12:23-28

It was still early in Jesus’ ministry, but already He was preparing His disciples and Himself for the cross. Did Jesus WANT to die the death of crucifixion? Then again, as a healthy normal human being desiring to live, did He even want to die at all? This writer says no. It is abnormal to want to die. We have been created with a strong innate drive to survive at all costs. In this first passage we see Jesus referring to His impending death by execution. He makes what seems to be an out of place statement, an almost enigmatic comment, “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.” Thus it is with the biological seed. If it never breaks out of its shell, it will rot away and die. It is only as that seed surrenders to its own loss of identity to become a plant that it become productive and useful to mankind. Jesus’ life, no matter how exemplary and commendable, wouldn’t have accomplished God’s greatest good for mankind unless it surrendered to the cross. Our Lord and Savior knew full well that the cross was an indispensible part of the Father’s redemptive plan for Him. If He held on to His life, the fruit of man’s salvation would die along with Him. But if He died to His desire to live, and went to that cross, abundant fruit-bearing seeds would someday sprout up, and millions of souls would be saved. In choosing the cross, Jesus shows us the way of maximum spiritual productivity and ultimate victory … death to self, and surrendered aliveness to God’s will.

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY INVOLVES A WHOLESALE INSIDE-OUT TRANSFORMATION. 1 Cor. 15:35-38

Butterflies are one of the most delicately beautiful creatures on earth. But they weren’t always so. In fact, the lowly caterpillar from which they spring is quite a lethargic, unattractive insect. What makes the change? “Metamorphosis”. It’s a fancy Greek word that translates as, “to change the form or substance of something”. How appropriate for the apostle Paul to refer to our spiritual conversion as an inner transformation, a re-creative act of God whereby He changes us from being like Adam to being like Christ (2 Cor. 5:17)! But, according to Paul, that transform also includes our outer bodies, as they will be changed into something quite new and permanent. I recently attended the funeral of a close friend’s mother. We sang, prayed, eulogized her, and then lowered her lifeless body into a grave. We closed by singing, “God Be With You ‘till We Meet Again”. When we see her again in heaven, we’ll be doing a double-take. She will have a glorified body, quite dissimilar from her earthly tent. The body we buried was temporal, susceptible to sickness, disease, decay and death. But her resurrection body will be immune to all those consequences brought on by sin. So, like a seed the farmer plants in hope of seeing it transformed into a crop, we plant our loved ones in Christ, knowing that someday we’ll see them “sprout up” in heaven as a glorious being with an indestructible body.

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY IS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE INVISIBLE ACTION OF THE WORD OF GOD. 1 Peter 1:22-25

I was told as a young Christian that there are only two things that will last for all eternity; the Word of God and people’s souls. The Word of God is indeed eternal, as our brother the apostle Peter reminds us in his first letter (1:25). Unlike the farmer’s seed that has a limited lifespan before it either decomposes or germinates into a plant, the Word of God will never expire. Its shelf life is forever. Peter likens the sowing of a seed into the ground to the Word of God being implanted into a person’s heart. Once that Word of the gospel germinates inside a heart, spiritual life begins to develop. Peter also calls God’s Word “living”. By its very nature it’s dynamic and alive. And, just like tat seed that gets plowed under, the Word of God goes to work in an invisible manner. You can’t really see it germinating in a person’s life until, one wonderful day, it sprouts up in the form of their salvation. Having come to fruition via conversion, the newborn believer is now capable of keeping that process of sowing and reaping going by their own spiritual growth and reproduction of other new believers.

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY IS HEIGHTENED BY MAXIMUM GROWING CONDITIONS. Luke 8:4-15

I vividly recall my first pastorate in the great farming state of Illinois. In those parts corn is king, and it’s all about the weather. The first thing you wake up to in the morning is the short and long-range weather forecast. It’s all over the radio and television. Unknown to us who are city-dwellers, farmers spend hundreds of hours getting and keeping their soil at optimal conditions. They clear the soil of rocks and trees, they fertilize the soil with the best additives they can afford, and they insure that their irrigation systems are ready to back them up in the event of a dreaded drought. All this is done because there is a direct correlation between soil quality and crop yield. The best seed will not fare well in poor soil. Even the highest grade soil is no guarantee of a good yield without adequate rainfall. But when good seed is planted in good soil and showered with steady rains, the crop yield is abundant. This same principle holds true in the world of spiritual harvesting. Jesus likened the soil condition to the spiritual condition of the human heart. He said that when the seed of God’s Word is sown into thin, rocky, or thorn-infested soil, the outcome is disappointingly poor. But when that same Word enters into the life of a person whose heart is spiritually fertile, that reception results in a bumper crop! Likewise, once we become believers we still must maintain a healthy heart so that God’s Word will consistently take root and bear fruit in our lives and ministries.

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY IS SOURCED IN MAINTAINING VITAL CONNECTION TO JESUS CHRIST. John 15:1-8

Do you like grape juice? I sure do! I think I could drink it in place of water! The best grapes produce the best grape juice. And the best grapes grow on vines that are well-connected to the water and light supply that comprises the process known as photosynthesis. Vital connection results in outstanding produce. Grape juice was the standard drink of Jesus’ day. Everyone knew well its properties and characteristics. So, like the Master teacher He was, Jesus capitalizes on their familiarity with this drink and the fruit it comes from. “If you want to have a life that produces healthy, tasty, nourishing spiritual fruit, you have to stay connected to the Source, Himself. A grape seed may well develop into a grape vine, but unless a constant flow of nutrients is supplied through that vine, no grapes will appear. Maintaining continual connection to its life-giving source is essential to its survival and ultimate productivity. Likewise, as the believer stays attached to the vine, he/she is able to draw the spiritual nutrients necessary to his/her growth and fruitfulness. The loss of such attachment spells a big fat zero. Nothing. Nada. But keeping our relationship with Christ vibrant through prayer, Bible study and fellowship will insure that our lives bear the kind of fruit that will stand the test of time.

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY IS COMMENSURATE WITH THE AMOUNT OF SEED INVESTED. 2 Cor. 9:6-11

Farmers not only invest in good seed, but they also try to buy as much of it as they can. The more seed they sow into the ground, the higher the percentage of crop yield they’ll get. It’s just that simple. Paul uses this same principle from the natural world to illustrate the nature of proportionate giving to God’s work. While some seeds multiply and re-scatter to sprout into many more plants, most seeds are a solo performance. Sow one seed, get one plant. Sow one hundred seeds, get one hundred plants. You reap what you sow. Paul says that those who sow a minimum of seed in their giving can’t expect to get a very high yield. But those who invest heavily into God’s kingdom in their giving can and will receive a far greater harvest. Like the parable of the sower, we will be wise to invest in the generous scattering of the seed of the gospel. In doing so, we’ll have the joy of seeing that seed produce a harvest of saved souls that will live on into eternity. Now THAT’S what I’d call a secure investment! The best about this spiritual farming is that God will never become debtor to the faithful giver. Instead, their willingness to contribute to God’s program will be more than amply rewarded as the Lord abundantly supplies them with new farming resources that will pour upon their lives a richness of blessing. Paul borrows from Psalm 112 as he expounds the principle of receiving a disproportionate return on our spiritual investments. God, says Paul, can be counted on to provide the regular and generous giver with ample means to keep on giving more and more. That’s the way it is in God’s economy. Once we’ve opened our hearts to His Spirit’s leading and give obediently, we trigger an unending cycle of replenishment and further re-distribution of personal wealth. Most people would probably cast a suspicious eye upon such a concept, but those who have tested it have found that it’s for real. You just can’t out-give God!

SPIRITUAL PRODUCTIVITY IS MULTIPLIED WHEN SEED IS SOWN IN SACRIFICAL FAITH. 2 Cor. 8:1-5

I recently asked a friend who is good at securing grants if she had any ideas on how I might go about securing funds to finance a major Christian endeavor. She wisely suggested the possibility of holding a fundraising banquet. I had mentioned that I had contacted two wealthy individuals so far, and was surprised when she informed me that research shows that the majority of giving comes, not from the well-off, but from those less positioned to contribute who give anyway. I never would have guessed that. Such was the case with a group of churches in the ancient area known as Macedonia. Paul reports that, although they were feeling the pinch of hard economic times, they managed to consecrate not only their pocketbooks but also their very lives to the Lord. Though they had very little themselves, they found a way to share the little they had with other Christian churches who were even worse off than they were. The secret of such unusual generosity is found in their attitude. They saw giving as a wonderful privilege, not an obligation. They actually “begged” Paul to allow them to send financial aid to believers poorer than they. The apostle also cites the source of such giving as the enabling grace of God. That grace triggered an unexpected willingness to give, not simply according to their means, but well above and beyond what they were “able to afford”. We call it sacrificial giving. They saw it as a chance to bless their brothers and sisters in Christ, and they threw themselves, heart, soul, and purse into the project!