O.K., math whiz, see if you can crunch these integers: let’s imagine that you helped one person get to know God personally this year. That is, you shared your faith in Jesus and the person responded by saying, “Yes, I want that too, I’ll become a Christian.”
That person, excited about his new faith, shares it with someone else the following year, who then passes it on, and on, and on. This scenario repeats itself for fifteen years. That means that you had an effect on fourteen people (and their families). That’s a fairly significant impact, when you think about eternity. Those fourteen didn’t just have their lives changed, they had their eternal destiny changed; they found joy, hope, purpose, and love!
Now, sharpen your pencils. What if...
What if, during the second year, you showed another person how to become a Christian, and that guy you helped back in Year 1, he also leads a friend to Jesus. Let’s say that the trend continues – every person who becomes a new Christian during this fifteen year period starts to share his faith with one more person each year. At the end of Year 15, how many people will have been impacted by your single decision in Year 1 to start sharing your faith in God?
Jesus said in Matthew 13:31-32, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branches.” (NLT)
In other words, God’s kingdom is designed to grow. God can take the smallest seed and use it to create a large plant; God can take a single life and use it to change the whole world.
Is your life multiplying God's kingdom? Are you having an eternal impact that reaches farther and wider than anything you might imagine? It’s possible, you know, and you might not even be aware of it.
Reading Jesus’ words makes me want to use the small “mustard seeds” of my life, my resources, and my energy to participate in God’s multiplying kingdom. I want my time on earth to count for something. I want to be an agent of change. Don’t you?
As was demonstrated in the movie, “Pay It Forward,” and more recently in the book “The Tipping Point,” average people can make a difference. Average people can start trends. We can start chain reactions of good things in the world. How?
1. Take the focus off yourself. People who live for themselves don’t multiply God’s kingdom. They might multiply dollars in the bank, or fair-weather friends, but what good is all of that, really? Live for something higher than self.
2. Take risks to love and give. Genuine love is risky business. Excel in it. It will absorb time, effort, heart, and money, and sometimes it won’t work out. But loving others, even those who don’t deserve it, is a sure path toward a meaningful life.
3. Take initiative to speak up about Jesus. Start with your own family, friends, and work associates. Let them know how God's forgiveness and promises have made a difference in your life. Never be afraid to be a witness of what God has done for you.
There are countless ways you can impact the world; then again, there are countless people in the world that desperately need that impact. There are people that need to know about God’s plan. And you, as a follower of Christ, can be a trend-setter.
The time to begin is now. The place to start is here. God designed you to do great things.
You do the math.
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