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Luke 8 v 8. “Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

This is the response to the Gospel that counts. People with honest and good hearts, hear the Word, embrace it, believe it, hold it fast, and they bring forth good fruit. But notice v 15 “by persevering produce a crop”.

The secret of Christian usefulness is not by being an overnight sensation, but steadfast perseverance. A steadiness in life and faith that sees us through all the seasons of life. True Christian credibility is seen in an accumulative way. The years roll by, marriage and children come, still we remain faithful to Christ; illness comes with all its tests and trials, still we remain faithful. Loss and grief strikes us, but we remain unmoved in our trust in Jesus. Disappointments may dog our footsteps but still we persevere. Old age comes with slower steps, slower minds and slower responses, but our hearts are set upon the Saviour and our glorious hope.

Sometimes our lives produce spiritual fruit that far outweighs the little seed that was sown in our hearts years before. John Bunyan, the great preacher from the age of the old Puritans, was a reckless blaspheming young man when one day he heard two women in the street talking about their faith. He was struck by a deep heart conviction and a great battle ensued in his soul. Finally he became converted and a great preacher. He was imprisoned for 12 years because of his preaching activities but produced many books that the world still honours today, the most famous of which is “Pilgrim’s Progress” If you have not read it, please get a copy and read and be blessed.

Bunyan persevered. So must we, though we never get to write famous books. You will never know what your Christian life and witness may mean to people around you. More than you could ever imagine. Jesus described it as “a hundred times more than was sown”.

Never give up.