Every Tuesday morning I meet with a fellow elder named Tony for prayer, Scripture memorization, mutual encouragement and accountability. This morning he shared that he had family visiting with him - his sister, her husband, and their three children. I asked if they know the Lord. They do and are active members in their local church.
This led to a brief conversation about the family as a whole. My elder friend is one of eight siblings, six of whom have definitely come to know Christ. Their mother also knows the Lord, and their dad on his deathbed received Christ as Savior. It all started when one of the siblings - Tony's brother Brendan - got saved. Brendan was then used of the Lord to win his family to Christ.
Brendan, who also is an active member in our church, got saved years ago after being witnessed to by his landlord. How did Brendan get connected with this landlord? This landlord has a brother that Brendan knew while working in Australia. This landlord's brother was not a believer and mocked his brother's faith in Jesus Christ. Yet it was through this connection that Brendan ended up getting saved.
How did this landlord - who was/is a very earnest witness for Christ - get saved? Years earlier, while he was in Florida, some guy on a bus shared the gospel with him.
Do you see the chain reaction? Some guy on a bus shared the gospel with another man. This man in turn shared the gospel with Brendan and countless others. Brendan shared the gospel with his siblings, who in turn were used to win their parents and spouses to the Lord. Now all these parents are raising up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord - and of course witnessing to their friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.
I wonder if that guy on the bus had any idea that sharing the gospel with one fellow passenger would create such a chain of events?
I wonder what opportunities God is giving me to begin or continue a similar chain of events.
I wonder how more zealously I would evangelize others if I could look into the future and see all the fruit that comes from faithfully fulfilling one God-given opportunity.
I wonder what opportunity God will bring across my path today, and if I will act on it.
I wonder. . . .