So this post is not directly realted to pt1 but they were part of the same train of thought when I started my earlier post. The point I wanted to get to was to whom do we preach. I’m not asking who we should preach the gospel to but rather who is hearing it. This last week was very interesting for me in that I saw how our preaching the gospel is always working. I once heard that “sometimes we plant the seed, sometimes we water, and sometimes we harvest” but I saw Thursday night how it never returns to us empty.
“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – Mark 4:3-9
What I noticed this last time out was that several times we were preaching to one person who often was not hearing but right next to them was someone listening very intently. We are called to preach the gospel, not to convert people but to obey Christ. When we share the good news, we are merely a tool for the Holy Spirit to change someones heart. We may plant the seed (say something about Christ that gets them thinking) or we may water (explain some things that didn’t make sense before) or we may harvest (bring them to Christ whole-heartedly where they in turn go out and preach the word of God) And it’s not always who we think it is or when it is.This is why we must live as Christians all the time. Our actions may be seen by anyone and how does that reflect on Christ? Are we good examples or poor? Do we show Christ’s love in everything we do or are we part-time Christians?
