When Jehovah turned again the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream….
Turn again, O Jehovah, our captivity,
Like the streams in the south.
Those who sow in tears
Will reap with a ringing shout.
He who goes forth and weeps,
Bearing seed for scattering,
Will no doubt come in with a ringing shout,
Bearing his sheaves with him.
— Psalm 126:1, 4-6
We are all still filled with our own selections and choices. We need to realize, “If I want the dream I have seen to become reality then I must sow myself into the ground to die.” This means that we don’t have our own choice anymore. Instead, we take God’s choice and submit ourselves to His hand.
This is a sober matter. Only people who live this way can build up the church and uphold the Lord’s testimony. It is not enough that we have turned from our original captivity to come into the church life. The Lord would say to all of us, “Turn again!” Our first turn was a positional turn. It only demanded the forsaking of outward things. Our second turn is a dispositional turn. It demands that we forsake ourselves.
Whether we are in school, working a job, or serving the Lord full-time, we must have one goal: to be sown into the ground to die. Everything else doesn’t matter. We need to have a turn. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we need to say, “Lord, I am here to sow myself into the ground to die. I have no more choices or preferences. I have no other hope or expectation. I have no other future. I am only here as a seed to be buried.”
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 65.
Tomorrow: “Sowing in Tears and Reaping with Joy”