Be the Seed

As I read John 12:24, I wondered about the kernel of wheat about which Jesus speaks. You see, He mentions that the kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die in order to produce a harvest. This prompted me to do some research. As I studied seeds, I could not find where it described the process of a seed including death. In fact, it mainly concentrated on a seed being dormant. Of course, dormancy and death are two completely different ideas! Therefore, I knew that there was something I was missing.
I continued on my search and continued to find that seeds usually will go through a dormancy stage if the weather conditions are not favorable to their growth.
In fact, a seed can remain dormant for thousands of years! Incredible! This means that a seed, intended to produce an apple tree can remain asleep without any type of production for thousands of  years, just because the conditions around it are not to its liking! How much like us is that?? If we don't have the right type of job, the right relationship, the right house, the right car, etc, we remain "stuck" or asleep waiting for something better to come along instead of moving forward and producing the harvest to which God has called us.
This prompted me to look at my own life. Am I living life like the apple seed which will not produce if the conditions are not right?
Yet, if this process of dormancy happens to the average seed, how can Jesus ask us to be a seed, if He knows this will mean some of us will not produce harvest?
Easy! See, he doesn't call us to be an ordinary seed; he calls us to be a kernel of wheat. A kernel of wheat is different from the average seed. Not all seeds function like a kernel of wheat. A kernel of wheat doesn't experience a stage of dormancy because it dies. Since the seed dies, it doesn't matter if the weather conditions around it are just perfect or not; it is not affected by its surroundings. Therefore, the kernel of wheat is able to produce its fruit regardless of the conditions that surround it. I am convinced that this step of death is part of the reason why a kernel of wheat can produce wheat in so many different areas. I believe this is why wheat is produced every month of the year in different parts of the world.
There are many different types of wheat, all usable for different products because a kernel of wheat still produces its crop regardless of the conditions around it. It still produces a usable harvest.
Oh! To be like the kernel of wheat that regardless of the opposition it still manages to reach its destiny and moves forward to produce a usable harvest!
That is my challenge this year. Be the seed! Don't allow the circumstances in life to be a factor. Instead, plant yourself, die, and produce the great harvest God has destined!