Daily Devotions
Hitting Singles in Evangelism
Reading for December 3rd: 1 Corinthians 15-16
Therefore, my beloved brother, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58
In baseball, everyone loves the home run. Nothing gets the crowd excited like a long, towering shot over the fence. It scores runs immediately. It is instant gratification.
But it's not always the best way to score runs. Sometimes it is better to play "small ball" where you choke up on the bat and cut down on your swing to get on base; where you take a lot of pitches to draw a walk; where you get base runners into scoring position by bunting, hitting to the right side of the diamond, etc.
Guys who try to hit home runs tend to strike out. In some situations, you don't want a guy who is swinging for the fences. If he connects with a big swing he's a hero, but more often than not he goes down on strikes or hits a towering fly out to end the inning.
In evangelism, it's easy to fall in love with the home run. Peter preached one sermon and 3000 were baptized (Acts 2:41). Impressive. Churches try to match this kind of success by planning big events to attract the masses. We want to hit a big one out of the park.
Yet success most often comes from doing the little things; simple things like offering our service to others, listening to those discouraged by life, praying for the lost, slipping God's name into conversation, telling about things you've learned in personal Bible study, standing up when truth is challenged, etc.
Doing those kinds of things consistently over time slowly opens doors for us to share our faith with others, and when a big event comes along, those who have been doing these kinds of things all along have the best chance of getting people to come and listen.
Lord God, open doors for the word for us today. Help us to recognize the little things we can do to plant seeds each day.
