Keeping the Faith

This was sent to me today and I thought I would share it with you.


ONE OR NONE

“How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?”

Matthew 18: 12
King James Version



I have a beloved and cherished friend who has been a pastor for almost fifty years. He told us one time in a sermon as an illustration for his text that when God led him to start a new church that for almost six months the only people he preached to was his wife and children, and sometimes only himself. He said “until you realize that it’s not how many people you minister to; it’s what you do with the ones you have, you will never please God”.


It does not matter how many or how few people we have in the congregation or how many people read our books, we need to put as much effort into ministering to one person as if we had a thousand people who are listening and reading. At times, it may seem that we aren’t making a difference for Jesus. It is not up to us to change a person because only Jesus can change a person’s heart. Our responsibility is to keep preaching, teaching, writing, singing and serving Jesus in the ministry that He has assigned to us.

We may think that nobody is listening to what we preach or reading what we write but we are to plant the seed and leave the rest to Jesus. A dear pastor friend of mine in Texas many years ago planted a seed in his sermon that went deep into my heart and has been a comfort and inspiration to me for many years. Be faithful to the ministry that He has given to you.

Joanne Lowe
July 18, 2006
joannelowe8@cox.net
http://joannelowe.blogspot.com/
http://www.heavenwardbound.com/