I’m listening to a piece of music written in 1721 titled Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach.  While this kind of music is not everyone’s cup of tea, my mother taught me to love it.  I’m glad she did.  I do still love it.

            Question:  Do you know the names of any of your relatives or what they were doing in or around 1721?  I don’t and have almost no interest in finding out.  Very few people do know unless they become interested in family trees.  Bach wrote this 288 years ago and it is still bringing joy to me and to others.  If you could do something today that would last at least 288 years, would you do it? 

GOOD NEWS!  We can all do something that will last that long and longer.  While at a worldly level I probably cannot do anything that will last that long (although you never know), spiritually I can and so can you.  My college roommate is coming to see me today.  What he did with and for me from 1966 – 1970 will live on in my son and daughter and in the lives of those converted to Christ under my ministry. (“My” is in the sense of identification rather than possession).  All of us who are in Christ have been given something that will last forever but only if we get it into the lives of others.  Unfortunately, most of us treat the Gospel like some garden seeds I’ll tell you about in my next blog.  The Gospel must be shared, and when you do you are doing the only thing I’m confident will bring joy to the lives of others 288 – indeed millions – of years from now.  The seed of the Gospel produces crops that last forever.