‘The Harvest is Plentiful…But the Workers are few’. (Matthew.9: 37) ‘Ask the LORD of the harvest…to send out Workers into his harvest field’. (Matthew.9: 38)
For a long time, especially in the last 5-10 years, the above words of Jesus Christ have been a challenge for me personally. And nearly every time I have finished sharing the gospel with someone, these scriptures keep coming back to me and become more challenging than before. There are specific facts and principles that are obvious. I hope that GOD will challenge you as you read them and together we can join in prayer and do our very best with the help of the LORD to either gather in the harvest or raise up more harvesters.
1.Jesus was in the midst of the people. He was teaching and preaching the good news, healing every kind of disease and sickness. We must be where people are so that we can preach the good news to them.
2.Jesus knew their needs. He saw their needs and problems because he was right there with them. We must get closer to people today so we can know their needs and hear their struggles. We cannot afford to distance ourselves from the people we are wanting to reach with the gospel.
3.Jesus had compassion on them. He had compassion because they were harassed and helpless and lost. We must have compassion for the people
4.Jesus saw and acknowledged. The harvest is plentiful (ready). People are ready to be harvested into the kingdom of GOD but the workers are few. The need for workers during the time of Jesus is the same today.
5.Jesus gave the solution to problem of lack of workers. Ask (PRAY) the LORD of the harvest. We must take this invitation seriously and ask GOD to send out more workers.
6.Jesus acknowledged that the harvest field belongs to GOD. All people belong to GOD. The work we are doing (harvesting) belongs to GOD.
We must count it a real privilege to be involved in the harvest field of the LORD and also count it a far greater privilege to be part of the work that Jesus started and still carries on today. Let’s not forget that the harvest is PLENTIFUL and READY, we must PRAY and ASK the LORD of the harvest to send out more workers and we must be available and ready to equip and prepare these workers for ‘works of service’. (Eph.4: 10-11, NIV)
OACI President
