Today I preached on John 12:24-25. My paraphrase didn't actually make it into the sermon for the sake of time, but I kind of liked it, so here it is. I call it the Pastor Dave's Revised Version (PDRV).

But once that buried body of a seed is placed in the ground to rot, then and only then will it actually become what it has been destined for from the beginning. Only then will it cease being just a seed, and become the living growing plant it was always supposed to be; a vegetable wonder that so overflows with life that it has life to spare and so it's life takes over and spreads itself out for miles around.
In the same way, if any of you insist on maintaining your death grip on this desiccated chunk of barely being that you think is life, you will lose what little existence you have. Decay will be your only option. You will wither and rot indeed. On the other hand, if you dare to discard your seedy little existence, like the piece of useless not much that it is – strangely enough, you will find an expanding and growing life sprouting out of you -- a life that never stops and never ends, ever.
Let me put this a different way. Those who would serve me must give up on cutting their own way through the jungle. Instead, they must follow the path that I am blazing (all the way to the bitter end). Wherever I am walking, the one who wants to obey me will be walking there too. Anyone who actually steps onto my path will receive honor from the Father.