Harvest workers

“Then [Jesus] 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
We all know that Christians are in the minority in society today. We can look at that as something intimidating, or we can look at it as Jesus pointed out to His disciples 2,000 years ago: it’s a great opportunity. Although people all have an opinion about God, Christians, and the church, many of them have never heard the gospel message. The gospel is not about social reform, being pro-life, or anything like that. Rather, it is very simple. 1: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). 2: Jesus came to bear our sins and take our punishment on the cross. 3: He died, was buried, and rose again after three days. 4: By believing on Him – i.e. that His work was sufficient for us, and trusting in Him for salvation – we can be saved: from the eternity of punishment that we deserve, to spend eternity in heaven with God, restored to fellowship with Him.
The gospel is not difficult to learn. We can all share it with other people. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to ask for more education. We don’t need to be more educated – we need to have more compassion for those people around us who have never heard the gospel message. Do you have a heart for the lost?
Finally, note the very last words of Jesus here: ‘to send our workers into His harvest field’ (emph. added). The harvest field – the world, in many of Jesus’ parables – belongs to God. He is the one who owns it, and the one who gives us the opportunity to work in it. It is unfortunate that many people will reject the gospel, but at the end of the day, all we have to do is work: it is the Holy Spirit, not us, who draws people to salvation. Are you willing to be a harvest worker today?