“I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.” Jn 12:24 (Amplified)
In most societies, the subject of death is usually a topic to be sidestepped even as we acknowledge the fact that death is part of living. This is because speaking about death, especially our own death, gives many of us the chills. However, nature teaches us that life only comes after death and according to the above passage there can be no life and no chance of spiritual or physical productivity without our first suffering death. So what kind of death are we really talking about? It is the death to self – that in-borne enemy of our soul and all that is good and a staunch ally of our adversary the devil. Self is the formidable enemy within which the bible describes as the flesh or carnal man. It is programmed to get in the way of God’s plan for our lives and needs to be relentlessly suppressed and kept under perpetual guard before our spirit can have full freedom to soar and maintain its wings. The flesh must be conquered and God must ascend the throne of our hearts before we can live to our full potential.
So, what is the common denominator to all those significantly used of God in their generations? The extent to which they were able to subdue the flesh was the extent of their usefulness to God. Spiritual greats like Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Paul and many more had to go through tough processes that were designed to enable them subdue the flesh in order for the spirit to take pre-eminence and accomplish the will of God for their lives and times. The hard fact is that nothing has changed. If you desire for God to use you significantly, you cannot escape the mill of God’s re-education camp, as your perspective is re-moulded and character reshaped to fit in with heaven’s realities and priorities. You will sooner or later realise that your life is no longer your own to live and only exists to fulfil the will of the Master. However, it is not all gloom and doom, for once you measure up to heaven’s high standard, heaven is the limit to what God can do through you. You are more than ready for one life-long adventure that is guaranteed to be immensely productive and exceedingly fulfilling.
This implies that for those whom God is determined to use, there is a season of hard graft as you learn invaluable and life changing experiences while enrolled in God’s school of hard knocks. The good news is that even this season will not last forever. It soon comes to an end depending on how willing you are as a student and how fast you learn those things that God deems essential to your future productivity. Nevertheless, one fact remains true – you have to die to your self – your ambitions, desires, rights, opinions – both yours and others, failing which your use to God might be truncated by the resurgent self in you that has the annoying habit of coming back to life at the most inconvenient times. Thankfully, God has provided the solution in His word, which is able to provide means to keep the flesh under wraps. Let the word of God dwell richly in your heart and the flesh will have no choice but to bow down to God in your life. The law of spiritual productivity states that you must die to live. Are you willing?
Prayer:
Lord, the age old problem of the flesh is not an enemy that I can face and defeat on my own. Help me to hide your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you, and Lord, as you put the flesh to death in me, cause your life in me to bloom and glorify your name. Amen.