ONLY GOD KNOWS THE NUMBER OF APPLES IN A SEED

ONLY GOD KNOWS THE NUMBER OF APPLES IN A SEED

Travis Agnew, a Christian author, shared a powerful story of the miraculous influence of one person who dared to trust and obey the Lord.

Billy Graham has shared the gospel with more people than anyone else in history, but do you know who shared the gospel with him?

It is a series of marvelous events that starts out with one volunteer Sunday school teacher.  Someone shared this story with me years ago, and it impacted me greatly.

“You can count the apples on the tree, but who can count the apples in a seed?” goes the old aphorism.  So it is with the influence of a single person.  Take Edward Kimball, for an example. Never heard of him?  Rest assured – most people have never heard of him.

Kimball was a Sunday school teacher who not only prayed for the boys in his class but sought to win each one to the Lord personally.  He decided he would be intentional with every single one of them.  Surely there were times that he thought about throwing in the towel.  

One young man didn’t seem to understand what the gospel was about so Kimball went to the shoe store where he worked and confronted him in the stock room about the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  That young man was Dwight L. Moody.  In the stockroom on that Saturday, he believed the gospel and received Jesus Christ as his Savior.  During his lifetime, Moody touched two continents for God, with thousands professing Christ through his ministry.

But the story doesn’t end there.  Under Moody, another man’s heart was touched for God, Wilbur Chapman.  Chapman became an effective evangelist who preached to thousands. One day, a professional ball player had a day off and attended one of Chapman’s meetings, and thus, Billy Sunday was converted.

Sunday quit baseball and became part of Chapman’s team. Then, Chapman accepted the pastorate of a large church and Billy Sunday began his own evangelistic crusades.

Another young man was later converted whose name was Mordecai Ham.  When Ham came to Charlotte, North Carolina, a sandy-haired, lanky young man, then in high school, vowed that he would never go to hear him preach, but Billy Frank, as he was called by his family, did eventually go.

Ham announced that he knew for a fact that a house of ill repute was located across the street from the local high school and that male students were skipping lunch to visit the house across the street. When students decided to go to interrupt the meetings of Mordecai Ham, Billy Frank decided to go just to see what would happen.  That night Billy Frank went and was intrigued by what he heard.  Returning another night, he responded to the invitation and was converted.

Billy Frank eventually became known as Billy Graham, the evangelist who preached to more people than any other person who ever lived, including the Apostle Paul.  Billy Graham’s estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion.

This fascinating chain of events was all triggered by a Sunday school teacher’s concern for his boys.  If you are like most people, you have served in some capacity and wondered at times if you were making a real difference.  Maybe you even thought about quitting.

Next time you are tempted to give up, please remember Edward Kimball, whose persistence and faithfulness was tremendously honored by the Lord.  This story could have looked very different if Edward Kimball did not obey the Lord and seek out young Dwight Moody.  Just do your part today in the Kingdom and trust God for the results.

You can count the apples on a tree, but only God knows how many apples are in a single seed. 

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!