Following JesusSample

Those of us who have ever been involved in church ministry or missions know how much of the day-to-day work is done by the very few. The same small number at any given church are often responsible for serving on the committees, creating the fundraisers, leading VBS, directing mission trips & evangelism outreach programs, decorating the sanctuary and visiting the sick or elderly. 

When Jesus said that “the workers are few,” He was not referring only to the time in which He said it. The situation He faced in that day is the same situation we face in our day. The harvest of souls – those in need of salvation or those simply in need of discipleship and growth – is enormous. Yet those who have given themselves to be used toward the satisfying of those needs is a small number in comparison.

So what do we usually do? Do we follow our Lord’s command in this situation? He asks us to “beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Do we push this commandment aside because we fear that if we follow it and ask, the “Lord of the harvest” may in fact ask us into that very service? Or do we push this commandment aside because we essentially don’t believe that our voice will even matter? 

Just as many people will not go to the voting polls to cast their vote because they believe it is seemingly insignificant, do some of us also ignore the command of Christ to ask God for workers to be sent out into the harvest because we wonder what difference our prayer would even make. 

It is Jesus Christ who has asked each of us, His disciples, to make the issue of the harvest of souls a matter of prayer to God. It is our responsibility as His followers to “beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Will He call us to go if we open that channel of communication? Perhaps. But perhaps not. At any rate, to ignore this command of Christ is to cheapen the very sacrifice of our Lord who gave His all for this said harvest. 

He asks us to pray. At the least, we must do that.

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