Pray to the Lord of the Harvest

 December 26, 2024

Thursday

Matthew 9:36–38 (NASB 2020) ³⁶ Seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Has another year gone by without seeing another soul come to Christ? 

The problem isn't with people not coming to Christ. The problem is that we are not sharing our faith. We hide in our houses hoping that we will not be disturbed. We encase ourselves in our vehicles without noticing the people on the outside. If we do notice, we criticize them for not being like us. Our problem is that we have no compassion for the crowds. Most of the time we don't even see them.

O, we have excuses. We claim we don't know how to tell people about Christ. That's like saying, "I don't know how to warn people that the bridge is out." Do you really care how you do it if it will save their lives? You do what you can. You do what you know you can do. You act because not acting means that you have made a decision for them. They won't hear the gospel if you don't tell them. You made their decision for them by not telling them.

As time progresses and we seem to take up causes for just about everything and everybody, we appear to becoming more callous toward each other too. We don't need to engage with others because we have all the people we need to engage with. We are spammed so much that we have learned to be rude. We protect our space and don't let others in. We have no compassion for others. While we may pledge $100 for what we consider a good cause, we won't cross the street to tell our neighbors the gospel. The $100 is such a short term fix when considering the eternity of the gospel.

Those who are laborers will see the people who need the gospel. They will be the ones praying to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers. They will be the ones who will see the fields ripe for harvest.

One news article after another comes out saying that people are attending church in lower numbers. Of course they are! The older generations continue to die out and the gospel is not being shared among the younger. Attendance will continue to drop unless the Lord of the harvest sends more laborers.

However, the gospel will not die. It will continue to shine in the darkness whether we participate or not. Yet, it is to our advantage to participate. We will participate with God in birthing new souls into His kingdom. We, therefore, can live today but touch eternity.