Fruit From Your Labors

He also said to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
(Luke 14:12-14 Holman Christian Standard Bible ®©)

Some of the people we serve show no signs of being influenced by the blessings we make sacrifices to offer them. They may be greedy, deceitful, demanding, unbelieving, and have no intentions of changing. Some will be changed, though, in spite of their hardness.

Don’t be discouraged or angry if you don’t know it until after your death. If we only serve the thankful or the growing or the loving people around us, we will miss opportunities to work with the Lord of the harvest as He brings it into His storehouse.

In fact, picking the most unlike Him in the crowd might be the best way to decide which people to invite. How very good it was that Ananias was obedient when the Holy Spirit sent him to baptize Saul of Tarsus. That has even blessed you, not just Saul.