What do seeds, dandelions and pencils have in common? To me they all represent a need for “death” before life can begin. Seeds are obvious, the shell needs to break apart (die) in order to allow the inside (life) to grow. Dandelions live yet no other dandelions would grow if the death of the flower didn’t occur (maybe some of you would be ok with that though!) and the pencil? In a Bible study I heard this analogy, a pencil works best when sharpened, but what happens when you sharpen a pencil? Stuff is whittled away to make way for the sharpened end to appear.
Jesus tells us in John 12, “Very truly I tell you, 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. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.“
I don’t want to remain a “single seed” but to die to my selfishness and through that produce “many seeds”. Not easy but I’m so thankful I have a God who loves me through the process.