The apple had to be cut off from the life of the tree in order to eat it. The apple seed is taken from the apple. The seed must be buried in order to live again. As roots and stems grow from the seed, the seed dies. The roots run downward, and the stem grows upward. The leaves and buds begin to grow, and as the buds begin to blossom, and the blossoms begin to bloom, lots of apples can come from one tree. The amazing thing is that out of one seed, the same tree can give bushels of apples for many years, long after the one who planted the tree has died.
There is a seed in all of us! All of us are a seed! All of us have a seed to plant! In each case the seed must die in order to live. Each of us must find our seed that was given to us by God, and make sure that we are cultivating the soil well enough for the roots to grow in us, and for the stem to spring forth from us. We then become a seed planted in our families, communities, and our world, our lives will provide enough fruit so that others can eat and produce fruit also. Then we must make sure that we are planting seeds in the lives of others, and for the unborn, so that our tree will produce fruit for generations to come, long after we are dead and gone. We must give, in order to live!
Every time we produce fruit, we may eat it, and share it, but we must remember to plant the seed that comes from the fruit so that the seed, the tree, and the fruit can keep producing. It will take discipline to cultivate all three seeds, reap the benefits, plants the seeds that come from the benefits, sow seeds in others, and ultimately become a seed ourselves. When we do this, our discipline will bring success to untold numbers of people. So, like the seed, we must die each day, in order to live.