Fruit Impossible to Count
You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the apples in a seed. (Paraphrasing a saying by Johnny Appleseed)
Planting Spiritual Seeds
As Christians, we frequently plant spiritual seeds in other people’s souls, sometimes without even knowing it. At other times we’re deliberate in sharing our faith. Yet I often think our unconscious witness is greater.
Why?
Because of the Holy Spirit.
What is our unconscious witness? It’s the salt and light flowing naturally out of our lives as we grow in maturity as Christians. Our actions, words and attitudes start to reflect Jesus more and more. I find the Holy Spirit will use even the smallest things we do to draw people to Christ.
We plant seeds, but God is the one who makes our little seeds grow into life-changing “fruit.”
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. (1 Corinthians 3:5-7 NIV)
You Can’t Count the Apples in a Seed
I found this second half of Johnny’s saying very powerful. We serve a God who uses our smallest acts of compassion or obedience to change people’s lives. I have no idea what Jesus is doing in the lives of people around me as I serve Him and neither do you. Often He doesn’t tell us. It’s only later, if the other person shares, that we realize how God used us, even when we weren’t looking.
It’s Just a Little Blog, Lord…
Right now, I am “scattering seed” with my posts. Word Press has a function which allows me to know how many visitors see “The Faithful Wanderer,” and what countries they live in. I can also see which posts my visitors are reading. This frankly is intriguing to me. I currently average about 90 visitors a month. Most of them live in the U.S. and Canada, but I get “hits” from all over the world. With google translate, some of my readers might not even speak my language—how wild is that?
My blog has had visitors from Brazil, Latvia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Romania, the Czech Republic, Peru, Nigeria, Russia, Vietnam, Germany, Israel, Iceland—well, you get the idea. Over 30 nations in all.
I’m stunned.
Every week the Holy Spirit puts something on my heart to write about. A lot of ideas float around in my head, but each week one “pops” to the surface and becomes my next post. Every Monday night I hit the “publish” button and my words becomes available on the worldwide Web.
But I don’t control who reads it.
I’m scattering the seeds, but the Holy Spirit is the One who produces fruit in other people’s lives. I believe He can use my posts to minister to many of my brothers and sisters, no matter what country they live in.
My job is to simply obey and follow my Savior’s leading.
He’s in charge of the results.
Don’t Forget to Water Your Seed
There’s just one more thing I need to do.
I keep a spiritual “watering can” handy. Often I ask the Lord to bless people; to use my writing to comfort and strengthen other Christians. I share my “God-stories” in the hope that others will draw closer to the Lord Jesus.
I water my spiritual seeds with my prayers and then trust my God to answer.
This fantastic image of the golden delicious apple comes from Pixabay.com.
Resources:
Here are 10 real-life facts about the American folk hero, Johnny Appleseed.
