Brazil Nut
The Brazil nut is found in Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador. The Brazil nut tree is huge and can top 170 feet. The Brazil nut tree starts to flower at the start of the rainy season. The flower has a life span of one day. If a blossom opens in the predawn, it will be gone by sun down.
The fruit is pollinated by bees and eventually grows to about six inches in diameter and weighs a few pounds. The fruit pod grows on branches and gradually ripens and dies. However, inside the fruit are about one to two dozen seeds or nuts. The huge dead pod will then fall off the tree to the ground. Some of the pods are so big that they will implant themselves into the ground. Others will be gathered and buried by agoutis, Brazilian super rats. The seeds that are buried will eventually grow into new trees.
If the pod did not die and fall from the tree, the Brazil nut would not produce new trees. Eventually the Brazil nut tree would cease to exist and we would not have the Brazil nut. This would have a huge impact on the natives of the countries where the Brazil nut is harvested. It would effect their income, economy, and diet. The jungles could be less populated with related tree growth. The animals that depend on the nut for food might become extinct.
The Brazil nut is a good learning tool to understand how death can actually cause life. We are all sinners and the result is two deaths: physical and spiritual. The physical happens when we die, nothing we can do about that. The spiritual death happens after we die and we get punished for our sins: eternity in hell!
Jesus, who is God, came down to earth to die for our sins. The punishment was taken by Him and He paid the full price for our sins. If you admit to God you have sinned, and believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, you will be forgiven. You must accept Jesus as your Savior and make Him Lord of you life. By doing this your spirit is born again, and have a new life in Christ that will never cease. If you can understand how the Brazil nut pod can give life by dying, you can understand how Jesus gives new life to us by His death on the cross.
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Brazil Nut Pod Photo from Texas A&M University
