Years
ago, when the Betty Crocker Company first began selling there cake mixes, they
offered a product which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to
the mix, which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake
every time.
It
bombed. No one bought it and the company couldn’t understand why, so they
commissioned a study which brought back a surprising answer. It seemed that
people weren’t buying the cake mix because it was too easy. They didn’t want
to be totally excluded from the work of preparing a cake; they wanted to feel
that they were contributing something to it. So, Betty Crocker changed the
formula and required the customer to add an egg in addition to water.
Immediately, the new cake mix was a huge success. Unfortunately, many people
make the same mistake when it comes to "packaging" or presenting the
Christian religion. They try to make the call of Jesus Christ as easy as
possible because they’re afraid people won’t "buy it" if it seems
too hard.
Jesus
said, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a
single seed. But if it dies it bears much fruit. Jesus then explained what he
meant. He said, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who
hates his life in this world will keep it." It's true in life isn't it? If
we are going to get anything out of it we have to invest ourselves in it. Do you
remember the second to last album by the Beatles? It was called
"Abbey Road" and for my money it was their best. The last song
is a little musical reprise called "The End."
It's the last lyrical statement the Beatles make on the album. And it
went, "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you
make."
The
truth of this is written in creation. It is evident for everyone to see. It even
is found in something as small as grain of wheat, a seed. Jesus said,
1.
First, when a grain of wheat falls it dies.
2.
Second, when a grain of wheat falls it bears much fruit.
3.
Finally, Christ is the grain of wheat that dies and bears much fruit.
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