Falling Seed

Read: 1 Corinthians 3:5-8 “Tell me, kids—if something good happened to you, would you keep it to yourself?” Mr. Miller asked his class at church. “No!” came the answer as all the kids shook their heads. “We like to share our good news with our friends, don’t we?” Mr. Miller continued. “Yet when it comes to the greatest news of all—Jesus saving us by dying for our sins and coming back to life—we often keep that a secret. Why do you suppose that is?” This time, no one could answer Mr. Miller’s question. “If we know Jesus, we need to tell others about Him,” said Mr. Miller. “Let’s bow our heads a moment and ask the Lord to give each of us the name of a friend who needs to hear about Him.” The children sat quietly, and a name came to Dominic’s mind. Oh no! he thought. Not Thatcher! He’ll never listen! After class, Dominic talked with Mr. Miller about it. “Look out the window,” Mr. Miller said. “See the tree growing in the middle of those huge rocks on that hillside? How do you think it got there?” Dominic shrugged. “I guess a seed from another tree fell there and took root.” “Do you think the parent tree worried about how hard the rocks looked when it let the seed drop?” Mr. Miller asked. Dominic shook his head. “That’s right,” said Mr. Miller. “The tree just let the seed fall, and God did the rest. That’s what we need to do too. We need to tell others about Jesus so the seed of His good news can fall. Don’t worry about how it takes root. That’s God’s work, and He can handle it.” Dominic still looked uncertain. “Thatcher’s my friend, but I feel like he’s just gonna laugh at me if I try to tell Him about Jesus.” “It can be scary to tell our friends about Jesus when we don’t know how they’ll respond,” Mr. Miller said. “But remember that God loves Thatcher and has the power to save him, and He’ll be with you the whole time. Pray for Thatcher, and ask Jesus to give you an opportunity to let him know what He’s done for him. He’ll help you spread the seed of His good news in Thatcher’s heart.” –Agnes Livezey How about you? Are you afraid your friends won’t listen to you if you tell them about Jesus? It can be scary, but trust Jesus to help you spread the seed of His good news. Faithfully pray for friends who don’t know Him, and watch for opportunities to talk about Jesus and what He’s done for you. Leave the rest up to God—He’s the one who makes the seed take root. Today’s key verse: I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NLT) Today’s key thought: Tell friends about Jesus