Plant the Seed and Get Out of the Way
It’s warm—too warm! We’re hot and dusty and tired. The move is imminent. The house is rented. The good-byes are mostly said, and the to-do list is getting checked off:
Pack boxes
Give away the “extra” kitty who adopted us. Thanks, Michael Nichol.
Move Ike to John’s house.
Move Milka to Daniel’s house.
These dogs are 2 of 4 Lab siblings who moved around in our family. LOL! John (our son) ended up with all four of them in the end.
Soon, we would disconnect the power, the phone and be on our way to Atlanta. But, as we were slowing down from the day’s work the hang-on-the-wall phone rang. (Remember those?)
I (Linda) answer, “Hello.”
“Hello. Does Jim Cox live at this house?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever work for Campus Crusade for Christ?”
“Yes.”
“In Peoria?”
“Yes.”
“May I please speak to him?”
“Sure. Just a moment.”
Who WAS this mysterious caller? It turns out that he had been a student at Bradley University in Peoria while we were there. We had never met him. However, at one of his fraternity meetings, he had heard one of Jim’s messages on a personal relationship with Christ!
At that sort of event, we would pass out response cards and ask the students to give us their opinions of what had been said and write any questions they’d like to ask. Finally, we’d ask them to put an “X “ somewhere on the card if they had invited Christ into their lives that day.
He did not turn in a card. Jim didn’t even meet him, but the message of God’s love and forgiveness was planted. Later, he did trust Christ. Now he was calling to thank Jim for being faithful to tell the story, and also to let him know that his life had changed forever. Today he is a minister in the Northeastern part of our country.
What does the Lord say about planting seeds?
You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of my Father, for my sake, He will give it to you!
- John 15:15 TPT