Other Lessons from Seed-Sowing
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By the casting of the grain into the soil, Christ represents the
sacrifice of Himself for our redemption. “Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die,” He says, “it abideth alone; but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit.”
John 12:24
. So the death of Christ will
result in fruit for the kingdom of God. In accordance with the law of
the vegetable kingdom, life will be the result of His death.
And all who would bring forth fruit as workers together with Christ
must first fall into the ground and die. The life must be cast into the
furrow of the world’s need. Self-love, self-interest, must perish. But
the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation. The seed buried
in the ground produces fruit, and in turn this is planted. Thus the
harvest is multiplied. The husbandman preserves his grain by casting
it away. So in human life, to give is to live. The life that will be
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preserved is the life that is freely given in service to God and man.
Those who for Christ’s sake sacrifice their life in this world, will keep
it unto life eternal.
* * * * *
The seed dies to spring forth into new life, and in this we are taught
the lesson of the resurrection. All who love God will live again in the
Eden above. Of the human body laid away to molder in the grave God
has said, “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is
sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is
raised in power.”
1 Corinthians 15:42, 43
.
* * * * *
Such are a few of the many lessons taught by nature’s living para-
ble of the sower and the seed. As parents and teachers try to teach
these lessons, the work should be made practical. Let the children
themselves prepare the soil and sow the seed. As they work, the parent
or teacher can explain the garden of the heart with the good or bad seed
sown there, and that as the garden must be prepared for the natural
seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth. As the seed
is cast into the ground, they can teach the lesson of Christ’s death;
and as the blade springs up, they can teach the lesson of the truth of
the resurrection. As the plants grow, the correspondence between the
natural and the spiritual sowing may be continued.