Isa 54:1

Isa 54:1  Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.  The prophet Isaiah, after heralding the good news of the coming of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, now heralds the fruit that shall come forth from His coming. What was the fruit? Isaiah says that Israel (depicted as a barren woman), shall rejoice, because (paradoxically) the barren woman will end up having more children than the married woman (v.1). The “barren woman” we know is Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Sarah was barren. But in her old age she gave birth to only one son, Isaac. But, the promise of God to Abraham was his seed shall be as numerous as the stars of heaven (Genesis 15:5). Paul, writing to the church at Galatia, quoted from Isaiah 54:1 and confirmed its fulfilment: “For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.” Sarah had only one child. But, through that one child springs forth a multitude of nations. One wisely said: “Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple. But only God can count the number of apples in a seed.” Don’t underestimate the power of ONE. From the seeds of one apple come millions of apples. From one egg may come thousands of chicken. One man can change the world. Steve Job changed the way men communicate with his invention of the iPhone. This tiny island that I call home owes what it has become today, from a fishing village into a first world country, to one man. All it needs is just ONE person to make a difference. That ONE person could be you or me. You might think the difference we can make is insignificant. But we can never know the results until we start doing something. We want to convert the world. It starts with ONE person telling another ONE person about Christ. We can’t expect church growth if everyone just appears on Sunday mornings and does nothing. We never know. You may be the ONE who convert ONE who will spring in hundreds or thousands to the LORD. Be the one that makes a difference in the Lord’s kingdom for good. You may be a Bible Class teacher. Through your effort may come ONE student that will be a future elder, a preacher, or a great personal worker for God. You may be ONE ordinary member who participated on a Saturday tracting session. It might be a tract that you handed out that caused a soul to obey the gospel and through that ONE, many others are brought to the Lord. We can’t do everything, but we can do something.  What we can do, we should do. What can you do for the Lord? Can you teach a visitor? Can you make the Lord’s Supper bread? Can you repair broken furniture? Can you clean the fans? Can you visit the sick? Can you wash the Lord’s Supper cups and trays? Can you drive the aged to church? We need not be barren in the kingdom of God. Isaiah says out of the barren shall come multitude of children. We can choose to remain barren like a fig tree that Jesus came across (Matthew 11:13). Or, we can choose to be a seed that “bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23). Let us be the ONE that makes a difference in the kingdom of God.