Spawned

“Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder

the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
I Samuel 14:6

When I hear the word spawn, I immediately think of salmon swimming upstream, and of the annual salmon run in streams and rivers back in New York where the salmon return home to deposit their eggs. And while the primary definitions of the word “spawn” relate to this process of depositing eggs, the word also means “to give birth to,” or “to give rise to.” You could say, for example, that school shootings have spawned many security changes in our schools. Or that recent terrorist attacks have spawned new concerns around the world.

But my thoughts are turned to Godly men and women whose acts of faith, courage, love and generosity have spawned similar actions in other believers. Some are found in the pages of the Bible and others are modern day believers willing to swim upstream if that was what it took to see a breakthrough and exact change. Phinehas was one such man who, in the face of rampant immorality among God’s people, took a stand for what was right and was honored by the Lord for his actions. Many years later, Jonathan climbed up to a Philistine garrison, with only his servant following behind, with faith in what God was able to do through one man, and brought about an incredible victory. Martin Luther was another who, in confronting the popular religious thought of his day, showed the courage of his convictions by speaking the truth regardless of the consequences. William Tyndale was so moved by the need of the common man to possess the scriptures in a language that he could understand that he risked his life and was eventually burned at the stake for his life’s work.

I can’t help but think that the courage of a Phinehas spawned similar courage in Jonathan and, thousands of years later, helped to inspire Martin Luther and so many others. In the same way, Luther’s stand for the truth spawned and emboldened not just Tyndale but many others to be true to their faith in Jesus Christ. In more recent times, Mother Theresa has spawned an army of people bent on doing good works, on ministering to the poor and relieving suffering wherever possible. Billy Graham has in like manner spawned an army of people whose vision is for evangelism and rescuing the lost from the enemies hold on their lives. And we too have an opportunity – every act of kindness, every stand for the truth, every display of faith has within it the seed to spawn similar actions in others who are waiting for someone to set the tone, to take the first step, to show that it can be done by men and women in our day!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church