The boy was only ten or twelve years old. He came often to the camera shop to get pictures developed and printed. The shop owner did not know whether they were the boy’s own rolls of film or whether they were brought in for someone else. The boy came again and again, and each time he came the shop owner laughed at him.
Why would he laugh at a good customer? Well, each time the boy came in he did something that the man thought was amusing—he gave the man a gospel tract. What a strange thing for a boy to do! Why would he continue to hand the man a gospel tract every time when the man always laughed at him for thinking he needed it? Probably, the reason was that the boy knew the Lord Jesus as his own Saviour and found, as many of us also do, that the message was too good to keep to himself. And he probably went home and prayed for that shop owner, because he knew that the Word of God has power, even when it is laughed at.
About ten years passed, and the boy had stopped coming. But when closing time came in the camera shop, the man moved his displays all to one side and arranged chairs in the center for a meeting. What could this be for? He set out Bibles too, and before long people began to arrive for a Bible study. It was his own store, and he was free to use it to spread the good news to others. The owner who had laughed at the boy and his gospel tracts had, in time, accepted the Lord Jesus as his own Saviour. He was now spreading the good news and the words of warning to those who would listen and to those who laughed.
If you know the Lord Jesus and what He has done for you, don’t get discouraged. This may be your last day for passing the good news on to someone. Be faithful today. “Thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good” (Ecclesiastes 11:66In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. (Ecclesiastes 11:6)). The boy’s faithfulness with those gospel tracts had good results. And your faithfulness today will have good results.
ML-07/22/2012