“Others are the ones sown among thorns: They are those who hear the word, but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing. But these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred.”” Mark 4:18-20 NET https://bible.com/bible/107/mrk.4.20.NET

As I review the ministry results for the year, I am confronted with my lack of fruit that yields eternal life. Every church and every Christian should ask how many people I have brought to saving faith this year by sharing the gospel and seeing the Holy Spirit do His work of saving men? If none or few, how many did we try to share Jesus with? Anyone? This is why I love the ministry of CBMC. I brought pagans to lunch to hear the gospel, though none responded favorably to our invitation to receive Jesus as their Savior. Still, the gospel was presented, and they heard. The trouble in our world results from people not loving God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving their neighbor as themselves. The reason so few Christians are engaged in the work of bearing eternal fruit is that too many are consumed by their cares in this world, the pursuit of wealth, and their desire for things other than seeing God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. What will be the result when we are weighed and measured by our Judge to determine the kind of laborer we were in His harvest field? How will we fare when we stand before Him, Who gave His life to save men and commanded we too deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him in seeking and saving the lost until all people come to the obedience of faith in Jesus the Savior?