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John 12:24

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 4, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 49.

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JOHN 12:24.

By Augusta W. Heald

The Divine Teacher often conveyed His lessons of truth by calling attention to some familiar object, thus associating it forever in our minds with that truth. There is no special value in a single corn of wheat; for unless it dies, the Saviour says, “It abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
Our natural, selfish life, which seems so desirable to us, is to the heavenly vision “without form or comeliness.” “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” This does not mean that we should squander our lives; for life itself is a sacred trust committed to us, and for which we, as individuals, are one day to render account. The meaning is rather that we are not to live in a selfish way, seeking our own pleasure, gratifying our own desires, but to follow the divine example. Christ said of Himself, “The Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” He was poor, “despised, and rejected of men;” yet He was ever ready to give a word of comfort to the weary, bread to the hungry, healing to the sick, and the water of life to all who would receive. We, then, should employ the short span of life allotted to us in doing good at the expense of our own selfish desires. In this we are serving Christ, who says, “If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.”
What greater distinction can be conferred upon the child of earth than to be approved of the heavenly Father, the great Creator of worlds on high, the Father of our Lord Jesus? With this hope in view we may well forego selfish pleasures, more than satisfied to lose this present life and gain the life eternal. AUGUSTA W. HEALD.