By Judy Wallace
I saved as many seeds as I could. One set had come from the sweetest, juiciest watermelon we had tasted all summer. It was a verified Cave City, Arkansas melon and had the stickers to prove it!
Next were the seeds I saved from a Candy Kissed cantaloupe. My oh my! There couldn’t possibly be a sweeter, more delicious variety than these and they were found at my closest Sam’s club.
And then there were the peaches. Bought almost weekly at our local fruit stand, these are my favorite fruit. Even though the seeding and growing process for them is more difficult and won’t produce fruit for many years, I still saved the pits determined to give planting a try.
Three different kinds of seeds now sit in the windowsill of my utility room. All three have differing requirements on how and when to plant and care for the seedlings. But plant them I must if I want them to bear fruit at some point in time. And realize I must that even with my best efforts, the actual production of the fruit is totally up to our Creator God. Fruit is the goal!
Evangelism is very similar. Cited as one of the most difficult of the spiritual disciplines to develop (the other two being prayer and memorization of Scripture), sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ seems to bring anxiety, fear and guilt for not obeying His direct command to be a witness for Him wherever we go.
The analogy only goes so far, but differs in the fact that the spiritual seed doesn’t change. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ given to us in His Word. But the soils are different. The time of germination is different. The result may be different but the end goal in each and every situation is fruit.
Why do we make this so difficult? What are our excuses?
• “I don’t know what to say?”
• “What if I say the wrong thing?”
• “What if they ask me a question that I don’t know how to answer?”
• “I don’t really have any opportunities to witness.”
I think we wrongly feel like if we don’t “seal the deal” and make it all the way through to a prayer of repentance, then we have failed. That is just not so. Instead, we must realize that our lives and words are to be those of a “seed flinger” — one who interjects God into our conversations as much as possible and always shows Him in our lives.
Does the interaction with a stranger bring up the topic of weather? Then state, “I’m so glad I’m not in charge of the weather. The Lord knows what He is doing.” I’ve had responses all the way from “Yes, He does” to “I’m not so sure,” but seed was flung!
When you sit down for a meal at a restaurant, before you ask God’s blessing on the food, tell your waitstaff what you are about to do and ask if there is anything that you can pray about for them. Those answers? “No, I’m good.” “My dad had a stroke,” “My sister is in a bad place.” “My little girl is starting kindergarten and I’m anxious about that.” One girl just fell into my arms and “big cried” because a patron had just chewed her out. Seed was flung.
Maybe there is a person in a wheelchair at the store that is trying to reach an item and you get it for them. They will almost always say thank you and then you can simply say, “That was from Jesus!” You may get some odd stares, but seeds were flung!
Take a moment and listen to the song, “Fifteen” by Greg Long.
What if this is the case? What if it does take 15 times of seeds being planted in a person before they have hearts soft enough to really hear the gospel? I know that is an arbitrary number. Some accept Christ the very first time they hear about Him and what He has done for them. Some have been raised in church and heard the gospel three times a week for their lifetime until one day they realize that message is for them — Christ died for them! What if you have the privilege to be just one of those “seed flingers” in a person’s life that helps prepare good soil for the planting of God’s Word? What a blessing.
What if you are number fifteen? What if you do have the privilege of taking someone through the plan of salvation? Does that stir fear in your heart? We will cover that in my next blog. Until then, meditate on these Scriptures and respond to them.
Scripture — Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Matt. 4:19; Acts 22:15; Rom. 7:4b; Prov. 11:30; Daniel 12:3; Luke 8:1-15 — What convicts, instructs or encourages you from these verses?
Recommendation — God Space: Where Spiritual Conversations Happen Naturally by Doug Pollock. I highly recommend you get this book and read it. You may not agree with everything he says, but I do think you will walk away with a wider view of evangelism and less fear.
“We are not responsible for a single conversion, but we are responsible for every single conversation.” (I first read this quote in the God Space book, but I am not sure if this is where it originates.)
— These articles are shared via the National WMA web page blog that can be accessed at nationalwma.org/blogs.
