Tuesday 4 Apr 2023

April 4: John 12:23-26

Key Verse: John 12:24
Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Devotion:
How many times in your life have you put off doing something because of the first big step you have to take, you know, the one which is “stopping the world from turning!” I say that with jest because I too have been putting off things because of the first big step. I am glad I have take the first big step and now feel more at ease with everything which faces me now.

These words from Jesus, I think, were an encouragement to the disciples to show them the first step is the hardest to take. They would be facing a life of servitude when He had gone back to heaven, and it would be that first step which would be the hardest to face because of what Jesus went through. But once you put your mind at rest with what you are facing and the knowledge God is with you every step of the way, the rest of it seems to make more sense!

There are many things in life we can relate to in order to find encouragement, and sometimes those things do help us to pluck up the courage. I know now it is the fact Christ is going to be on this journey with me every step which is giving me the strength and courage to carry on. The world and the people we get to mix with may well throw all sorts of spanners in the works – because people are human. Most humans make silly mistakes without thinking of the consequences.

When God asks us to give up our lives to follow Him, it is not the physical act of laying down your life but the spiritual act of giving up on your pride to make something of yourself. God does not need a raft of popular people who think the world of themselves; He needs people who are willing to put aside their own desires and willing to pick up on the needs of others!

Points to Ponder:
What is holding you back?

Will you take this first step today?