9-24-23 Willisburg Bulletin
Eccl 11:6
We have all read about the parable of the sower many times, but have you ever thought about the fact that you may need to be replanting too? When you think about planting a garden or flowers, you already know some are going to die, some are going to start growing immediately, some may take time, and some won’t do anything. Have you ever thought about that in a spiritual sense? That sometimes when you plant the Word it will immediately affect them, but more often than not, sadly, it won’t take affect or grow because of us. When you read the sower parable you can see that the outcome is dependent on the hearts the seed lands upon. However, when it falls upon the people that seem to have a hardened heart or that don’t even want to hear it, do you ever think that you may should try to reach out again? Things happen in life that cause people to turn to God, but what if you never took the second chance to share the Word with them? They won’t ever have that second chance if you don’t offer, first, but also, how much affect does it have if you only plant the seed once? If they hear the gospel only one time, they will soon forget it. If you only plant one flower, you may or may not get a bloom. It’s the same way with sharing the Word. You may or many not get a believer if you only share once. Honestly, how many times did it take for you to obey His commands after hearing them?
So… you know those people you only mentioned the Bible to once, the people that you expected to hear back from but never did, the people that blew you off when you said something about God, the people that made excuses why they didn’t come to worship with you. Reach back out to them! Follow up with those folks. Even in business, the follow up is one of the most important outreaches. A lot of business transactions come from following up because their trust is earned by you taking interest in them and taking the time to contact them. In this day in time, people go days on end without a response from their contractors, service techs, and businessmen, so when they actually do receive a call back, the customer feels heard, appreciated, and taken care of. That’s exactly how we need to make them feel regarding the Word. They ought to know we will reach back out to them about the Bible and that it is not just a one time deal. Are you a one time Christian? Are you a Christian only on Sunday and Wednesday when you go to worship? Then why would you only speak to someone once about the gospel? We have the responsibility to replant the seed of God.
Planting takes time and the right tool.
If you plant a seed and you don’t get the results you had expected, do you quit and never plant anymore seeds or do you keep retrying? Do you research more about the flowers to see what you may be missing? When it comes to God’s Word, if you share the gospel and you don’t get the results you expected, do you just quit talking about God? Do you take the time to further your understanding and knowledge of God’s Word on the matter? Do you shy away from speaking up about God? Do you hesitate to say things? Maybe it’s time you take a deep dive of reflection. Maybe you have lost your focus? If we truly believe and have the right tool, His Word, we will take the opportunities laid in front of us and we will follow-up. Even if you were raised in the church, you heard it all your childhood and it still took you time to decide to be baptized, right? And how many times have you heard the Word, yet you forget it the next day? Or how many times does it take for you to actually think about something someone said or what we heard? We need to realize our timeline on when baptism should happen or when someone should respond to our gospel outreach is most likely not the same as God’s. It takes time, but we can’t let the time pass without replanting the Word, because Satan doesn’t stop trying to take us or those we need to reach back out to. Satan replants a temptation everyday, which is all the more reason we ought to be replanting the gospel everyday, everywhere. We can’t let those people forget about God or the Word we shared with them. It needs to be replanted in front of them, almost as if it is in their way, constantly.
Start taking time to follow-up!