Our Sweet Seedling, Beth

"What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body." 1 Co. 15:36.

This Easter Sunday comes with such a gift of message for me this year. Easter for me has always been a day of humility, gratitude and deep reflection for what Jesus did for each of us. It is a day that I could not quite grasp the depth of its meaning until this year. My sister's passing one month ago today has breathed fresh meaning into this unselfish act of Christ. He sacrificed everything so that Beth could be given the eternal gift of life. He suffered so Beth no longer had to. He died so that Beth could be resurrected with Him.

Without the death and resurrection of Christ, Beth's pain would have been unbearable and her death would have been without purpose. God is in the business of turning death into resurrection of something else - something better. For Beth, it is a better life, a better way, an eternal life starting a little earlier than it will begin for us.

Through her death this family ministry was resurrected and will provide the Way for many people to find Christ. Her life was planted as a seedling and God beautifully nourished and grew her until the seed became the life He determined at which point He brought her home to be with Him.

This devotion is for anyone who has experienced death in the recent past whether it is the death of a person in your life, the death of marriage, the death of financial security or the death of hope. Remember that in God's economy that all seeds must die before life can burst through - it is way of nature.

"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:42-44.

With every "death" you are experiencing remember that God will determine what life will be resurrected from your pain - who knows but that your pain will prompt a new ministry in your life. Allow this Easter Sunday to resonate upon you with a deeper meaning of fresh application and hope.