Jesus Christ said to his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38(NLT), “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Our Lord and Savior spoke these words to his disciples after seeing crowds of people in need of healing and salvation. His nature was one of tremendous compassion, and it is no surprise that when he saw how confused and helpless the people were, he had compassion on them. We have been given the extraordinary privilege of being God’s children. We have the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwelling within. Therefore, when God looks at our hearts, He expects to see the compassion in us that Jesus Christ has.
Many people will live their whole lives wondering why things didn’t go well for them. They are blinded to the reality that satan tries to keep them separated from our Heavenly Father so they will not believe in God’s power and won’t believe they can be transformed by it. God’s Word and promises work, but as long as we remain blind to the Good News of Jesus Christ, the enemy wins, because he wants us to believe we are defeated.
We are not defeated because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross of Calvary. Romans 8:37(NLT) tells us, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” The body of Jesus Christ was beaten beyond what any of us can fathom so that we could be healed from sickness and disease, and his blood was shed for the remission of our sins. He has won the victory for us, but in order for you and me to walk in this victory and cause it to envelope our lives, we have to believe in it. We must have faith! Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith, we can’t please God.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, our main mission is to spread his Gospel. Whether it’s speaking a word of encouragement to a stranger or friend, witnessing to a neighbor, sharing encouraging bible verses—blogs or teachings online, or continually praying to God for more workers in the field. However it is that God has purposed you to move His Word, this must be the constant in your life. It’s tied to so many of the blessings we desire. It’s how we store up treasures in heaven.
We can never think that we don’t need to do our parts. There are millions of lost and needy souls in the world today. They are ready to receive salvation and just waiting for someone to come into their lives and share the truth of Jesus Christ with them. They’re like ripe fruit ready to be picked.
I lived on a farm growing up. I’d see my grandfather till the soil with his tractor to prepare the ground for planting seeds. It’s common knowledge that in order to have a harvest, seeds must be planted first. Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 9:38 that God is in charge of the harvest. He gives it sunshine and rain. Our job is to gather it for the Master. But what happens if we never gather the harvest that God has assigned us to? What if it’s ripe for the picking, but we’ve decided that we don’t want to get our hands dirty or labor in the fields? If this happened to my grandfather’s harvest, and the fruit and vegetables were never gathered, they would rot. They would fall to the ground and die.
God’s harvest is the most important work of our lives. Imagine standing before the Father on judgement day and seeing the fruit we were expected to gather for His Kingdom—the many opportunities we let slip by—and all those individuals were lost because we failed to gather God’s harvest. This is how I envision the lost souls that don’t hear the Word of God. Without the love of Jesus Christ in their hearts, they will walk around on this earth without fulfilling their Godly purpose. They could be denied the blessing, and we will be as well if we fail to run the race God has placed before us.
As Children of God, our purpose is to keep this from happening. Our purpose is to labor and reap the bountiful harvest the Lord has prepared. When we don’t walk in our calling, we might allow the harvest meant for our reaping to rot. We miss the blessing and could potentially cause someone else to miss it too. Don’t let this happen. There is so much work to do for God’s Kingdom but there aren’t enough willing participants to do the work. We must not let this be said about us. God is certainly not withholding your blessing. If you are not moving by His power in the mission He has ordained, you are withholding the blessing from yourself. You can change this. Pray that the Lord who is in charge of the harvest will send more workers and be willing to go if that worker is you! ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Unpicked Harvest” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.