Seasons of Life in the Lord

"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…” – John 12:24-25.

Spring is here!  A time of planting and seeing shoots come up out of the ground.  This time of year, my wife excitedly shows me every day from our back patio how much everything is growing.  But for all that to happen, there had to be a time of planting and waiting first.

 

When Jesus said these words above, He had just entered Jerusalem to the triumphant joy of the crowds, with His crucifixion and burial a few short days away.  Everyone wanted to meet Him, to laud Him, to see Him restore the kingdom to Israel. 

 

Christ’s words bring us up short.  He has to die before He can bear fruit.  We are always rushing to the harvest, when we can pick and eat the fruit.  We want “Serenity Now!” (a Seinfeld reference…), the kingdom fulfilled immediately.  Bill Buckley liked to say we can’t immanentize the eschaton - heh heh.  But like in the Garden of Eden, when God says, “Not yet,” we try to grab it anyway.

 

No, first comes the darkness of Winter, when a divine seed is planted and delivered from a dark womb.  Jesus’ ministry is foundational, underground stuff, showing us the truth of God’s Word and a faithful life of Israel before God, in His very life.

 

Then comes Spring, when new life comes out of the ground, as Jesus emerges from the grave.  In Spring, life and growth first become visible to us.  Though it had been going on for a while.  Similarly, we did not realize the power and nature of Jesus’ life fully until after the resurrection.

 

Then comes Summer, a time for watering and weeding.  Tending to the new life God has given us.  It can be hot, sweaty business.  Pests and weeds invade.  It’s a constant battle to keep them growing.  But with Jesus as the root and stem, we grow on His vine.  Sometimes we wilt.  Sometimes we thrive.  But we are headed for fruitful transformation.

 

Finally comes the Harvest when we are plucked and placed in God’s house to be fully enjoyed by Him.  Not in a way that devours, but transforms and rejoices us in newer, unimaginable ways.  And we fully enjoy Him, too.

 

 

I am talking here about Jesus.  Born, growing up, ministering, dying, rising, and glorified.

 

I am talking here about your life.  We are hardly aware of our earliest moments of life and growth, physically or spiritually.  We grow and learn, suffering the thorns and cares of this world, watered by the Word and Spirit. 

 

I am talking here about others around you.

·         As a parent, you bury yourself every day for your children.  It’s hard to see the growth sometimes, but it is there.  We get frustrated with the weeds that keep coming back.  Often the growth is only on the inside, and you can’t see the flower until the end.

·         At work, you don’t feel like your work is appreciated.  Are your labors bearing fruit?  Give it time – reward often comes down the road, not right away.

·         Before God, you wonder some time if the gardener is paying any attention to you.  You feel so dry and wilted.

 

And sometimes God messes with the natural process.

·         A baby miscarries and goes straight from winter in the womb to harvest in God’s house.

·         A believer backslides and has more growing to do.

·         A professing believer had shown everyone a picture of a growing plant all his life, but one day throws it in the trash and is revealed as a weed.

 

But His plan and timing are perfect through it all. 

He is the Gardener. 

Jesus is the main stem. 

You are the shoot, growing and bearing fruit. 

 

Rejoice in the life God gives!