_THE DYING OF SELF_
JOHN xii. 12-36.
"Except a corn of wheat ... die!" Yes, it is through death we pass to
life. Discipleship in which there is no death can never be truly alive.
The nipping winter is essential to the green and flowery spring. No tomb,
no resurrection glory! In every life there must be a grave, and self must
be buried within it.
We must die to self _in our prayers_. In many prayers self is obtrusive
and aggressive from end to end. It is self, self, self! That self must be
crucified. We must make more room for others in our supplications. On our
knees the egotist must die, and the altruist be born. And "if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit"! There are multitudes of professing Christians
who would experience a wonderful resurrection if they were more "given to
hospitality" in their communion with the Lord.
And if self die in our prayers, nowhere else will it be seen. That which
is truly slain when we are upon our knees will not reassert itself when we
return to common ways of work and service. And, therefore, let the corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die!