35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV)
Ever had a job that was crazy busy? You know, one of those jobs that has no present shortage of customers and even more looming on the horizon. A job that just doesn’t have enough people working to keep up with all the current things let alone the future needs and plans. A job where you’re already doing the work of 3 or 4 people but they just won’t hire anyone else. If you’re still working in this post-Covid world, then you definitely know what this looks like because “Help Wanted” signs are everywhere and there is way more work than people to accomplish it.
Now Jesus wasn’t lamenting the lack of workers because He wanted to see third shift covered or because the shareholders were expecting another quarter of record-setting profits. Instead, it was because He saw the seas of people who were broken, hurting, and lost and who were in desperate need of the Gospel. He saw men, women, and children wandering without direction, hope, or purpose. He saw entire communities waiting to be transformed from places of despair, darkness, and depression into centers of life, light, and love. And as He continued to look, He saw there wasn’t a big enough workforce that was full of the same compassion to bring His Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus didn’t tell His disciples to pray that someday in the future the fields would eventually ripen and be ready for harvest? He had been traveling from town to town sharing the Good News and spending time with people from all walks of life. He saw first-hand the overwhelming response when the Gospel was preached. He held people in His arms who were ready to give up, He wiped tears with His own hands of people who had been set free from years of pain, He heard the voices with His own ears as people everywhere shouted praises to God in thanksgiving for the deliverance, forgiveness, and healing that had come. Instead, He told them to pray that there would be men and women raised up who would join Him in the fields and share in the mission because there was much more work than there were people to do it.
What could happen if you had the eyes of Jesus to see your family, your neighborhood, your workplace, and your community as the ripe harvest field that Jesus has told us it truly is? How would your evangelistic efforts be different tomorrow than they are today?
What could happen if you had the compassion of Jesus and had your heart break over the dysfunction, disenfranchisement, and destruction taking place in the lives of people around you? How would your dedication to harvesting be changed?
I want to challenge you to set 2 alarms every day – 9:38am and 9:38pm – and pray for Jesus to raise up more workers to go into the ripe harvest fields. Remember, that workforce includes you. The Lord is already doing a new thing in the lives of people everywhere as He’s working ahead of you to soften hearts, open ears, and transform minds. Maybe the new thing He wants to do in you is to make you a worker in His harvest?