If you place a copy of Prison to Praise in the hands of a hurting person, will they accept Jesus as their Savior? Perhaps, but not necessarily.  If you give a copy to five hundred people, how many will be born again? No one knows.

Too often Christians become discouraged when the good they do does not seem to produce visible results. Jesus prepared us to understand such difficulties. All we need to do is consider His parable of the seeds sown by the farmer in Mark chapter four. Some seeds produce little or nothing. But another seed may result in 30, 60 or even one hundred new seeds.

Jesus said these seeds represent the Good News that anyone gives to others. Many seeds (words, books, etc.) that we sow may seem to produce nothing worthwhile. We should expect that since Jesus predicted it. He said some people’s hearts are too hard to hear God’s message. Other people hear, but the distractions of the world crowd out God’s message. But sooner or later some hear the message we give, and they may produce far more results than we do!

I realize that some people who receive Prison to Praise do not seem to benefit from it. You or I may never hear from them. But the odds are on our side! Jesus promised us! Think about this. If you distribute one hundred copies of Prison to Praise, one or more will probably produce a harvest that will be at least thirty times what was sown! If you sow the seeds in extra good “soil,” someone will respond by sowing 100 times more!  God established this principle so His Kingdom would grow, and His Son would return to reign on this earth.

Every day I receive letters or emails, from those who read Prison to Praise and their lives were changed. They too want to give copies to others. Often, they are so blessed that they want to give out hundreds of copies. Sometimes they become discouraged when many people reject their efforts. But each of us needs to remember that the person who gave us the Good News may have done the same for many others who did not receive it. You received. I received. And now we must go on to tell others.

Jesus gave the Good News to many people, but only a few produced good fruit. But some of these men produced thousands of seeds! They sowed their seeds all over Europe and Asia and eventually the Good News came to America. Men such as John Wesley, in England, refused to be discouraged. These men gave the Gospel to people who sneered, laughed, and mocked or stoned them. But some who heard became dedicated servants of God.  Without their witness, the church in which I heard the Good News would never have been built.

If you aren’t doing your very best to share the Gospel with others, I recommend that you meditate on Jesus’ parable of the sower.  Don’t be discouraged – ever! Just do your best and leave the rest to God. He provides the “sun” and the “rain” to produce the crop. All He asks us to do is sow the seed. I plan to give my life to sowing millions of seeds all over the world. What a delight it is to be part of God’s plan. (Reprint from March 1993)