Yesterday, I spoke about the episode in 2 Kings 11 and went on to talk about the importance of just doing the faithful thing that is in front of us. It may be small, insignificant and unimportant but you just don’t know how it will echo down through eternity. God is very gracious when he gives us even a glimpse of it. I thought I would just highlight one little example of that.

Several years ago, I was asked to go into my daughter’s class at school to say something about Christianity. I cannot remember why I was asked or what I was asked to do. But whatever it was, I agreed to do it.

If I’m being honest, I don’t tend to view school visits and the like as especially significant for the gospel. Of course, if asked, I will take the opportunity, go in and say something about Jesus. But I am also painfully aware of the statistics concerning the things that lead people to Christ and schools visits really are not high on the list. Almost nobody traces their story of conversion back to a school assembly with a local vicar or some such. So I probably wasn’t holding my breath that anything much would come of it. And, as it happens, I went in, said whatever I said, went home and saw zero fruit from it. C’est la vie.

Fastforward several years and a young girl from my daughter’s class turns up at church. She has no Christian background, her parents are not believers, nobody in her family is encouraging any religious interest particularly. She has been reading the bible a lot and is particularly interested in getting baptised and belonging to a church. Wonderful. Come for a bit and let’s check out your story.

After a little while, we agree to meet up. One of the early questions, what got you thinking about Christianity? Well, she says, I remember a pastor coming into school to speak about Jesus and that got me interested in reading the bible. It turns out that pastor was me. I have no memory of what I said and only the vaguest memory of going in at all. I certainly didn’t think it would be particularly valuable. But several years on, here we are: a basic thing of assumed limited value has led someone to not only pick up their bible and read it but, by the grace of God, give a testimony that was lovely and clear, offering evident understanding of the gospel. All effectively self-taught and fundamentally in response to one class visit from a pastor who thought the entire thing a nice, but ineffective, thing to do.

So these things really are not theoretical. We do not know how our little bit of faithfulness in a matter before us now, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, might echo down the line for the sake of the kingdom.