Matthew 9:38
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Jesus knew that people needed what he brought them, both the message of the kingdom and physical healing. As Jesus encountered the depth of human need He was moved with compassion for them. Jesus saw that these people were like sheep having no shepherd. Jesus here described what man is apart from God; that we are like sheep having no shepherd. We are LOST until we come under the care of our Shepherd. This scripture describes the people as a neglected flock of sheep and a harvest going to waste for lack of reapers. Jesus saw the greatness of human need as an opportunity, as a harvest that was plentiful. A harvest is a good thing, and this was a plentiful harvest. But it was also a harvest that needed laborers. The good of a harvest can go to waste if there are no laborers to take advantage of the bounty. Jesus warned us that opportunities to meet human need and bring people into His kingdom may be wasted because of a shortage of laborers.
What does that mean today?
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Since the harvest belongs to the Lord of the harvest, we are commanded to pray that He would compel workers to reap His harvest. We are to pray that the Lord would send out laborers. This is a prayer we must pray, but we can only pray it honestly if we pray with an ear open to hearing Him tell us,
“You go into the harvest.”
We must pray for God to send out laborers but we must be willing to be laborers as well. It is a great blessing to realize that we are some of the workers for whom the disciples prayed.
Think about it: Jesus asked His disciples to pray for more workers and for two thousand years, more and more Christians have come along to serve as workers in God’s harvest field. We, in part, are the answer to the prayers of Jesus and His disciples.
Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plentiful.” So, we must get to work!
A lot of us have seen the harvest rot due to lack of laborers. The only hope in keeping the harvest plentiful, is my multiplying our labors by teaching and guiding other disciples to continue the work. If just one of us could win to Christ a few people a year and encourage them to do the same, the results of that seed over two or three decades would be billions of people won to Christ. We each have different gifts and callings and we must share our Lord’s values and commitment to His cause. We must devote our time, energy, wealth and other resources to the task of reaching this world with the message of the kingdom.
Church, our time is now! The Lord of the harvest has called and commissioned us for His harvest field. Jesus and the disciples prayed that we would be called and sent. The harvest is great and the workers are few. What are we waiting on? We must be working! We should give ourselves fully to our task!
Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out “more” laborers but remember, we too must go into the Harvest. Also show compassion as Jesus did and when given the opportunity, PREACH THE GOSPEL.
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