My first attempt at an Easter Allegory. A story about the foolishness of not dying to yourself to follow the Savior of the World in light of His death and resurrection.
There once was a barn full of seeds. The seeds were piled up high waiting to be planted.
One group of seeds didn't want to be planted. They managed to work together to hide behind a stack of hay so that when the farmer came they would be left behind.
As the bags of seed were taken for planting, the bag of seed which had hidden themselves began bragging and laughing about how smart they were to break away and make it on their own.
One day a loose seed, which had fallen out of one of the bags that had been taken for planting, was swept along by a large gust of wind and landed beside the hiding bag of seed.
The lonely seed said, "Oh no! The farmer has left a bag of seed here!" But the bag full of seeds cried out, "No! The farmer didn't leave us. We are hiding! We don't want to be planted. We don't want to fall apart in the dirt. We want to enjoy being seeds and stay right here."
The lonely seed answered with great concern, "But don't you realize that you are all going to rot here over the winter and die anyway?
Haven't you heard about the King of Seeds?
We all came from Him. He laid down His life and was planted in our ground and rose up into life-giving wheat! If you don't let yourself get planted in the ground just as He did, you will never get to live as grain and be made into bread to feed people. You'll die alone! But if you go out into the field and die in the ground you will sprout up into a totally new thing. You'll become a beautiful plant. And then you'll become many more seeds and more plants and more bread. You'll never really die. But if you stay here and hide, the winter will come and you will rot and then be burned."
Most of the seeds in the bag began to boo and scream, "Go away! We're happy just as we are!" But a few seeds cried out, "Can you help us! We don't want to stay here and rot! We want to be planted by the farmer so we can be raised up into wheat and made into bread and more seeds!"
So the seeds who longed to become wheat managed to rub a hole through the bag and spill out. A gust of wind blew the seeds far from the proud bag and were scooped up by the farmer's son. The son then carried the seeds excitedly to his dad, the farmer, asking if he could plant them.
So the son of the farmer planted the seeds. He watched and waited and watered them while the hiding bag of seed lay undiscovered behind the hay in the barn.
After weeks had past and harvest time came the lonely seed and his eager friends were growing tall and beautiful in the field. Each were cut down. Some of their grains were taken to be ground into flour. Some were taken to be planted again. All of them were happy to be living as a new thing and giving life to others. But the selfish, hiding bag of seed lay abandoned in the barn and when winter came, they all rotted.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity." -John 12:25
Paul explained, "But someone may ask, "How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?" What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have.
A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
The Scriptures tell us, "The first man, Adam, became a living person." But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:35-57
Happy Easter!
Sheila
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