I was reading Matthew last night and I was reviewing some of the parables that Jesus taught in His ministry. A parable is a simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. Jesus loved utilizing parables when teaching. His audience was primarily comprised of simple and ordinary people such as farmers. Although most were uneducated, they related to His stories and we can likewise relate to them to this very day when we are putting people into outer space.
There are 39 recorded parables in the New Testament; 20 are recounted in Matthew, 9 in Mark, and 28 in Luke. Some parables were recounted by more than one Apostle. In many cases the same parables were recorded by all three Apostles and I feel that obviously these are the greatest lessons, and I like to read and study them more often.
Some of the parables that are recorded by all three Apostles deal with witnessing to others, emphasizing the importance of telling others about Christ. We are commanded by Jesus to share the Gospel with others, but many will not obey this command for a host of reasons. Those of us who do witness to others find it one of the most rewarding aspects of being a Christian. Helping to lead someone to escape from everlasting torment in Hell is one of the noblest things a person can do in this world.
I think that anyone who regularly witnesses to others gets discouraged from time to time and one parable, “the sower”, helps deal with just that problem, (at least in my mind). Jesus tells us that only twenty five per cent of the seeds that we sow, (people to whom we witness) will bear fruit, (hear the word, understand it, and indeed produce and bear fruit themselves by witnessing to others). Twenty five percent hear the word and do not understand it and satan comes and snatches it away from them, twenty five percent hear it, are joyful for a while, but their faith is shallow and as soon as they endure some trials and tribulation they stumble, twenty five percent hear the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word from them, but twenty five percent falls on good fertile ground which produces a bountiful harvest.
Having been in sales and sales management for many years, I can tell you that one of the most discouraging things for many “wannabe” sales people is to cold call. This entails calling customer after customer and trying to convince them to see you and allow you to demonstrate your products. The nature of this beast is numbers. It is a numbers game because you will most certainly hear “no” more often than “yes”, hence the reason that so many are so discouraged when they cold call.
The smarter sales people realize that mathematically there is a formula for a certain number of no’s before a yes and are not discouraged, rather are “encouraged” with every “no” because they realize that soon they will strike “pay-dirt” and hear that magical word, “yes”! With every no, the winners are grinning wider and wider because mathematically they are getting much closer to receiving a yes which translates into a big fat paycheck. The losers will whine louder and louder with each no, and with success just a few more no’s away, will give up and quit in disgust, going on to something else where they can be overheard muttering to themselves that no one likes them.
We should likewise realize that witnessing is a numbers game. Jesus said that only 25% of the seeds sown will fall on “good ground”, whereby they will hear the word, understand it and indeed will bear fruit and produce. Mathematically that is just one yes for every three no’s out of four attempts and could be discouraging to some, but get this, Jesus goes on to say that some of those who do bear fruit will produce, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty. How would you like to have an investment that pays that kind of dividends?
The good news is that you can. All you need to do is tell others about how Jesus Christ has made a huge difference for the better in your life and that He will do so in the lives of those of those to whomever you witness. When you witness, some will fall by the wayside, some will fall in stony places, some will fall among the thorns of this world; however we can rest assured, because Jesus Christ Himself has told us, that some will fall on good fertile ground and will be fruitful and produce and some of those will produce a tremendous amount of fruit.
As a sower, you will be rewarded when the harvest is consummated. Your rewards will be enjoyed for eternity in heaven where you will no doubt be thanked by those whose eternal destinies that you affected by caring enough about them to witness to them.
Anne Frank, (“Diary of Anne Frank”), helped many Jews escape the Holocaust and became our hero in so doing. Imagine knowing that you like Anne Frank were instrumental in helping to save hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, or hundreds of thousands of lives, except that through your efforts you helped to save them for “eternity”.
Do not be discouraged when you receive a few no’s; it is a predictable numbers game. Why not hit the jackpot by witnessing to four people between now and Monday. I hope you are one of those who “hears.”
Matt.13:8
But others fell on good ground
and yielded a crop: some a hundred-fold,
some sixty, some thirty.
He who has ears to hear, let
him hear!