In 2013, my friends Robby and Kirsten had a yard sale. Their little girl set up a lemonade stand. But Nora wasn’t selling. She was giving. And refreshing drink wasn’t her only gift. Nora offered every customer a copy of John Moore’s DVD “Searching for Truth.”
An older gentleman approached the Stocksdales’ house the following weekend. He asked if he had found the home where the yard sale was recently held. Then he explained his reason for stopping by. The man had enjoyed the DVD so much that he wanted to share its message with others. Could he have some more copies? Robby and Kirsten gladly honored the request and invited their new acquaintance to church. As far as I know, he never accepted their invitation. But that wasn’t Nora’s fault. She did what she could.
In his parable of the sower, Jesus describes four soil types: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold” (Luke 8:5-8). In ancient Israel the farmer’s seed is scattered by the wind. But only the good soil is truly receptive. That receptivity is the Lord’s unique responsibility. Of his ministry in Corinth, Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6).
In 2013, Nora Stocksdale was only seven years old. But her seed sowing was an excellent example for people many times her age. Having a yard sale this summer? How about giving away icy drinks and outreach materials? Just a thought.