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Little May Go A Long Way
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A young man
preached his heart out. He was barely 23 years old and this
was his first gospel meeting. How his heart did beat when he
received the invitation to come and preach for the small group
of brethren in this little community. Visions of huge crowds,
high excitement, lots of responses filled his head as he
contemplated the coming event. When the time came he was
almost out of breath with excitement.
Although
the crowds were fair, there was seemingly very little
excitement during the meeting. Brethren listened attentively,
but their reaction was basically one of quiet politeness. He
preached his heart out for two weeks. When the meeting was
concluded, one person–a little girl 12 years old–obeyed
the gospel. He was discouraged, disappointed.
Before
returning home, he called together the Elders of the little
congregation and apologized to them. “ I guess I’m not as
far along as I thought I was,” he said, “I’m sorry for
the fact that only one person responded to the invitation.”
“I’ll try and do better the next time–that is if there
is a next time,” he said. The Elders sought in vain to
console him as he went on his way.
Years past.
The little girl grew up. She married a fine Christian man. To
this union was born five sons. All five of the sons became
gospel preachers. Through their efforts thousands of people
learned about Jesus and obeyed the gospel.
All this,
because of the effort of one young, inexperienced gospel
preacher.
Influence
is interesting. You never know how much you have or what that
influence may accomplish. Even people who think themselves to
have very little of it have been known to have a profound
effect on the lives of others. And influences are not always
huge, either. Lots of times it’s little acts that impress
us. And many times we don’t even realize our influence is
being felt.
One thing
is certain: we need to learn that there’s power in
influence–power for good, power for evil. You have such
power. So do I. For instance, if you’re an older person,
chances are younger people are watching you and some of them
are apt to follow your example, whether you know it or not. If
you are younger, there are still kids who are younger still
who may well be patterning their lives after you. So it’s
important to “watch out where you’re going” as my Dad
used to say. How sad it would be to lead some person down the
wrong path.
Paul, in I
Corinthians 11:1, said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I
also am of Christ.” The best following you will ever do is
following Christ. And the best example you can possibly be is
one where Christ is the dominant feature in your life. Lead
yourself well and you’ll lead others well.
And you
don’t have to be a gospel preacher to preach the gospel. All
you need is a love for the souls of men, coupled with a
burning desire to make the words of Jesus known. We need to be
so fascinated by the gospel that we can hardly keep from
telling people about it. Further, that gospel should have such
an effect on us personally that it’s obvious to all that we
belong to the Lord, and that He alone guides our footsteps.
“And at
that time there was a great persecution against the church
which was at Jerusalem; and they were scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the
apostles....therefore they that were scattered abroad went
everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8). I fear the gospel
message doesn’t influence us like it did them. One small
rejection and we’re apt to quit. And our folding up in our
obligation may well cause someone else to do so as well. We
can do better. We must do better. We have to be like the early
saints and keep on teaching.
How’s our
influence for good? Do others see Jesus living in us? Do they
see the joy we have in seeking and serving Him? Do we shrink
back at the slightest set-back? We may not know how much
influence we’re having, but we do know that it’s right to
keep on trying. It might turn out like the young preacher, who
knows?
Dee Bowman
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