I read this Scripture consistently. It speaks so much into my heart because it's a prayer Jesus told His disciples to pray. It reads: 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: "Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest." (Matthew 9:35-38)
I imagine Jesus looking at this crowd with a sense of sadness. There was a crowd wanting Him, wanting God. I don't know if this is what His heart felt.... but I know my heart hurts when I look at the broken who need freedom. They need hope and love. They need Jesus as their Rock, and the workers are still few. What stirs my spirit is when I see so many who proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior but are so comfortable in their world that to reach out is just too big of an inconvenience. It costs too much time, it doesn't fit in their lives, it's too much of a disruption. Those that are comfortable placing Jesus in their little perfect box in their perfect spot in their own home. Jesus becomes a perfect ornament for themselves. That perfect box is only opened when its needed, possibly daily....but that box is never shared. Friends, Jesus is to be brought into others' lives. His hope needs to be the words that flow off our tongues first and foremost. We need to be inconvenienced, we need to be noticers, we need to be obedient when the Holy Spirit puts someone on our hearts. We need to "activate" to do the work we have been commanded to do. If we proclaim Jesus as our Lord, then we do what was mandated to us from Him. We "go" and and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Investing in others' lives for the Kingdom of God is building His Kingdom. The freedom Jesus gave us as believers should be the light that guides our paths, and if we look behind us, we leave a bit of light wherever we go. That light will ignite someone else.
Let's pray that prayer Jesus told to His disciples. Let's pray for God to send out workers into His harvest field, because the harvest is plenty and workers are still few. Then ask if that worker is YOU.
"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
