There’s a Great Harvest?

There’s a Great Harvest?

I was recently talking with the students on a Sunday morning, and this verse came up, “[Jesus] said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” (Luke 10:2, ESV).  After reading this verse, I began to feel personally challenged and convicted.  Later in the study, we looked at a parallel passage in Matthew 9:35-38.  We noticed that Jesus tells His disciples to do this after he sees the helpless condition of the people:  “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (ESV).  After talking about this verse with the students, and pondering its implications, I was left feeling a little uneasy.  I don’t often pray for God to send out workers to preach the gospel of the kingdom with lost people.  To be honest, and to my shame, I rarely think of people in other parts of the world who do not know Jesus.  I am more often more consumed with what is right in front of my face.  And even when I encounter people at the grocery store or in the line at Wendy’s, I rarely find myself thinking of them as “the Harvest.” 

As I thought about this more throughout the week, I was really bothered by the conflict between my beliefs and my actions.  I believe that God is the ultimate source of all joy and the great God who deserves all praise and Honor from all of creation, but I infrequently think about sharing the wonderful message of Him with people outside of my immediate influence.  I also believe that Jesus is the only source of eternal life for all mankind.  And because of this, any person who does not trust in Jesus, through the gospel, will be eternally separated from God and will have to bear the just wrath of God (Rom. 1:16-20; Matt. 25:46).  This is why, after reading these verses, I was left feeling a little disturbed.  I know the truth, but I often don’t allow it to affect and change me.  In one sense it was painful to be convicted by God, nonetheless, I have found it to be such a refreshing experience to be personally corrected and guided by God’s Word to change my thinking and my living!

How about you? How often do you think about those who are currently helpless and don’t know Christ? How often do you ask God to send out laborers to bring in the harvest?  Personally, this passage has begun to motivate me to analyze my life, asking these questions, 1. Do I care about the harvest? 2. Do I ask God to send workers into the harvest? 3. Am I using my gifts, experiences, and abilities to most effectively bring in the harvest?  I think these are all questions for those of us who follow Jesus and care about Him to consider.  This week let us consider how to think correctly about the true reality of life (God, heaven, hell, eternity), love people consistently with the message of Jesus, and begin to pray fervently that God would raise up laborers to preach the good news of the kingdom of God! 

Here are some passages to ponder in regards to the great harvest, and here is a great website that can act as a guide when praying for the nations of the world,  www.operationworld.org.  

Romans 10:14-15

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (ESV) 

Psalm 67

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him! (ESV)