Jump Start # 528 

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary”

  Doing good is the hallmark of God’s people. One of the core characteristics of Christianity is thinking of others and then engaging in helping others through good deeds. This was first done by Jesus Christ. The Gospels tell us that He went about doing good. So many people benefited from Jesus Christ. The blind were able to see, some for the very first time. The crippled were able to walk. The demon possessed where able to return to a normal life. The lepers were cured. Some even witnessed their dead coming back to life. Many received hope. Many tasted the goodness of God’s grace and were forgiven. The amount of good that Jesus did can never be fully calculated. To this day, we are still talking about it.

  Most people do good to a circle of people—first, their immediate family, and then a few friends. This is common decency of human beings. We babysit, we help others move, we loan, we share, we are there for them. Anything less than that simply isn’t being a nice person.

  Paul’s words extends that circle. The next verse shows that. In verse ten Paul says, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith. All men. Not just the immediate family. Not just my close friends. All men. Neighbors, co-workers, cousins, church members, folks that don’t go to church—all people, any people, every people. Do good. That’s us, do gooders.

  There is something special about touching the life of another. We can spend a few moments doing good for someone that can have a life long effect upon that person. They can be changed, forever, by what you do. I know this, because it happened to me a long, long time ago.

  More than 33 years ago, I was just a young puppy at preaching. I was single and working with a church about an hour away from where I now live. I had less that a dozen sermons under my belt and was trying to learn all this preaching stuff from an older preacher. That church had a guest speaker one Sunday afternoon. It was the only time I met this person in my life, and I do not know if he is even alive today. He had been to Nigeria. He had slides and talked about the work being done there. I was spellbound. I had never thought about such things. I had never heard of such a thing as American preachers going overseas to preach. It was all new to me. I was totally amazed that afternoon. The guest preacher left. I couldn’t get Nigeria out of my mind. Within a week I wrote the guest preacher and asked him for the names of some native Nigerian preachers that spoke and read English. He sent me a list. Most of the names I could not pronounce. One man’s name stood out—his first name was Sunday. I liked that. I wrote Sunday. He wrote back. For more than 33 years we have been writing back and forth. I have sent him dozens and dozens of books, money and anything else that I thought would help him. I have arranged for churches to support Sunday financially. Through Sunday, he has introduced me to many other Nigerian preachers. We have written and I have found ways to help them the best I could. One even named his son after me. I have never been to Nigeria. I tried to go twice but political unrest over there made the trips impossible. Sunday is an old man now. We still write. He has thanked me beyond measure for what I have done through the years. He doesn’t understand that it’s not me, it was some guest preacher a long, long time ago that touched the heart of a very young preacher. Someone opened my eyes and touched my heart. That person did good to me. I never thought that one Sunday afternoon lesson about a far away place called Nigeria would change my life for ever. I never dreamed I would devote all that I have through the years to a people and a place I knew so little about. One Sunday afternoon changed me forever!

  The way things are looking, I probably will never meet Sunday in this world. We have shared pictures with each other. We’ve grown to know and love each other. It doesn’t bother me anymore that we won’t see each other face to face, because I know we’ll meet in the next world. We’ll have a lot to talk about.

 I share this with you, not to boast about what I have done, for it’s really not much, but to illustrate to you that the good you do can change the lives of others. I know as parents we get weary. Keep doing good. I know for some Christians, it seems that you are always inviting folks to your home, you are always teaching classes, making food for others, helping others out. It’d be nice to get a break, but you keep doing it. You get tired. Some things can get costly. But deep down in your heart, you realize that you are doing good. You are making a difference to the life of someone else. Our passage says, “let us not lose heart…” That means, do not get discouraged. Don’t stop. Don’t ever quit. Some won’t thank you. Some may not appreciate it. Some may think you are doing this for a false motive. You know. God knows. And somewhere along the line, you will probably touch a heart that may make a difference for ever. You may never know about it—but it’s there. Most preachers would admit that one reason they decided to preach was that they were influenced in a positive way by an older preacher along the way. That’s just the way these things work.

  That good that you do may continue on and touch others that you will never know about. The good that you do can cross the globe to far away places. So don’t get weary. Don’t give up. The letters you write…the bulletins you mail to others…the sermon CD’s that you pass along…even these Jump Starts that you email to others…are doing good and they may go far beyond what you ever know or realize.

  Did I ever tell that guest preacher from long ago what he did to me and what I have been able to do because of his influence? No. I never did. I probably should have. God knows. Out there somewhere is a young preacher…a sweet teenager…a new couple…a new parent that can use your good. They need your help. You are the very one that can make a difference. Your example can change their lives forever. The good you do can lead someone else to doing a lifetime of good for others.

  It happened once, and I know it can happen again.

  Let us not lose heart in doing good…

  Roger