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“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”
Matthew 9:37-38 NIV
Jesus’s sole purpose for coming to earth was to make a way for the prisoner to be set free. In other words, He was born to die so that we might be freed of the bondage of sin and have eternal life with Him.
But even as He taught and went about the various regions and towns spreading the good news, He encountered many people with various physical needs, and had compassion on them and loved them.
In this passage, Jesus likened the people he encountered as “sheep without a shepherd (36).”
Though the Jewish people had religious teachers and leaders, many of these were unconcerned with the people’s needs. They failed to guide them and love them as God desired, leaving them empty and prone to wander.
Jesus saw this great abundance of human need as an opportunity for others to get involved and help point people to Him, yet there was (and is) a shortage of those willing to take on the calling.
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (v.38).”
Just as a field of ripened crops need workers who will go out and harvest the produce, in our world we have multitudes who are just waiting for someone to tell them that Jesus loves them and died in their place.
Are you a worker who is ready and willing to go out and work the harvest? It doesn’t take any special skill set or degree. What it does take is a heart that has been transformed by the Savior; a mind that now sees the deep lostness of man; and a compassion to love like Jesus.
Lord, raise up more workers in your fields to point people to you. So many are hurting. So many are hopeless, and many are leaving this world without assurance of their eternal destination. Give us strength, courage, and wisdom as we seek to do Your will. Amen.
