Diminishing Marginal Returns

In economics we talk about something called diminishing marginal returns.  This means that each additional unit that a company produces becomes more difficult to produce.  For example, getting the first apple out of an apple tree is really easy, but getting the 100th apple is more difficult because you have to climb to the top of the tree and really search for it.



So it is with our efforts to share the gospel.  Perhaps that's why it seems that people who are recently baptized or who are just starting to go to church often find lots of friends with whom they can share the gospel.  It seems more difficult for members who have been trying to share the happy gospel message with their friends for many years.


Fortunately, there exist 'economies of scale'.  An example of this is a computer chip.  As more and more are produced, each one becomes cheaper because the company is learning to produce them cheaper and better with better technology.  In a similar way, we may learn new skills by praying and seeking to know and talking with others about how to share the gospel in our current circumstances.