Over the past two devotionals, I have told the story of the Bible club that I was allowed to have in a public elementary school in southern, Ontario, Canada. There is one more lesson involving the Bible club that bears telling...
Even after the change in
principals, with our current administration permitting the Bible club but
not promoting it, this club remained a highlight at my school. Club members
brought in other students, ones who didn't know the Lord. There were other
students, however, who either weren't interested in coming or had parents
who wouldn't permit it. Those students who "fell through the cracks" so to
speak became the target for club members.
First of all, the club prayed for these students.
They went on, however, to do far more than pray. Taking the Great Commission
to heart and full of God's Spirit, they began testifying to students outside
the Bible club. And as will always happen when God's Spirit reigns, many of
the other students listened. They saw the difference made in the school by
the helpful, caring attitudes of the Bible club students, and they
recognized something that they didn't have but needed in their own lives.
Bringing kids to the Lord wasn’t enough for these
Bible club students, however. They recognized that they needed to help new
Christians develop a relationship with God, and they began encouraging other
students to read the Bible and pray.
Before long more and
more students began attending Bible club, ranging in ages from Grade 5 (the
lowest grade at this particular school) to high school, with former club
members returning after graduation.
These students took to heart Jesus' words in
Matthew 10:18: "You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake,
as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles." (NKJV). They brought their
testimonies before teachers, janitors, fellow classmates, and some even took
them home and shared them with their families. I would be privileged to
witness the baptisms of many of those students, and my heart rejoiced to see
even their parents and siblings walking closer to the Lord as a result of
that Bible club. Some of these students went on to university and then came
back to do student placements either in my classroom or with my wife, who
was a local Speech-Language Pathologist. Their stories of faith through the
years served as an inspiration and encouragement for literally hundreds of
others.
What happens when we are obedient to God and plant
a simple seed? What happens when we determine to leave the seed in God’s
hands? That seed grows into a plentiful Kingdom harvest! Praise God!
What is God placing on your heart to do? What is
keeping you from doing it? Fear? Doubt? Busyness? Whatever it is, renounce
it in the name of Jesus. Be obedient to God's Spirit. Plant that "seed" for
the Kingdom of God. Submit it completely to Him, then sit back and be
prepared for the bountiful harvest.
In His love,
Rob