This month marks a significant milestone in the life of Words for the Day, because it begins my 12thyear of writing it five days a week. Most of them, (thousands), have been saved in a database on my website and are available for your perusal and are searchable by key word.
Through the many years one thing has not changed and that is the criticism for my effort that arrives nearly every day. Yesterday was no exception and I received quite a few nasty e-mails from unhappy campers that didn’t like the fact that I dared to point out what the Bible states concerning the requirements for top leadership positions in our churches, namely the exclusion of homosexuals and women.
My detractors are malevolent and full of vitriol and rage. So this question begs to be answered, “Why even write WFTD? Instead why not just quietly study your Bible in the mornings and privately commune with our Lord in peace?” No one likes to hear people railing at them daily and saying nasty things about them including me, and it could be so easy to just quit writing it and avoid the unpleasantries.
It reminds me of an outdoor television show I saw the other day about salmon. These beautiful fish were gracefully leaping through cascading falls strewn with glacial rocks and raging icy streams. They were returning from the ocean and fighting upstream to the headwaters from which they were spawned in order for them to also spawn before they die.
Along the way they encounter vicious predators of every kind. Brown bears, grizzlies, wolves, and other mammals line the banks swatting and biting at them and when they catch one they rip it to shreds. Bald eagles and other birds of prey swoop down from the skies and sink their talons into them and then tear them to pieces and devour them on the rocky shorelines. Even human predators line the bank in huge numbers catching them on hook and line.
And yet the salmon keep struggling. They leap high into the air to surmount waterfalls; they wiggle long distances through the shallows, and they do their utmost to elude their enemies and achieve their goal. Those that are successful arrive in their original birthplace and lay their eggs and millions of new salmon are born and swim out into the ocean and the species is renewed.
To me this scenario is similar to the life cycle of the Christian. When we become Christians many of us begin to work at getting the word of God out to others. Sometimes it is exhausting and even dangerous, especially in Muslim and communist countries. But even here in the USA we will no doubt encounter those who want to rip us and our message of hope and peace to shreds and devour us.
It is sometimes discouraging especially when we get tired and receive volumes of hate mail. But perhaps the worst thing about it is that we often do not have the opportunity to see the results of our labor. I had a thought about this relating to the salmon run. Salmon plant many seeds while laying their eggs, but don’t live long enough to see the fruits of their labor and their millions of offspring. Such is often the case with the Christian laborer. Just like salmon we might plant many seeds that do not germinate for a while, but eventually God’s Holy Spirit “stirs” them and they are renewed as they are “born again”.
Most people are aware of how savings can compound. You start out with 100 earn interest of ten and then interest on 110 and before you know it is in the thousands, hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions. When we witness to ten persons and they become born again and they in turn witness to ten each, one can see what a mighty harvest the Lord gleans. When one thinks of it like that it’s kind of exciting, eh?
I hope the Lord allows me many more years to fight the battle in writing WFTD, speaking, films, books, or whatever. One day I will die off like that old salmon, but unlike them, I will join God in heaven and He will enlighten me as to how he used my work on His behalf to glorify Him and His kingdom. One day I will see the results of my labor on His behalf and that will be interesting.
How about you? Are you planting seeds? If you have not started yet, but are motivated to do so, then start today. Surely you know someone who needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Tell it to them. Today! Don’t worry if they don’t instantly respond and start preaching in the street corner; the Lord will stir them in due time. Our job is to plant seeds. Don’t worry about your detractor predators either, just keep your eyes on the Lord and He will bless you and your effort. Keep your eye on the goal of spreading the word of God as best you know how and He will multiply your work mightily.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!
Matt. 9:37
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.