Pray for Laborers

It never ceases to amaze me how much my work load grows when I actually sit down and write out a to-do list. Some days it is easy to think there is nothing to do, but in reality everyday has more than enough stuff to do. We set priorities to accomplished the most important things, and hope we are given another day to accomplish more. Yet, each day comes with its own to-do list and priorities.

Now when we apply this reality to church life we can understand why Jesus told us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. The world is crumbling around us. The world is full of straying sheep that are without a shepherd and that are surrounded by ravenous wolves. Even in our congregations their are wolves, wrapped in wool, ready to strike the Lord's sheep. There is so much work to be done--captives to be freed, blind and deaf to be healed, orphans to be rescued.

Every person we meet has a need. They may need to be reconciled to God or their neighbor. They may need to be disciplined or restored. The work is too great for one person. It takes an entire congregation pulling together around the mutual goal of glorifying God through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't mean simply proclaiming you must be born again, but rather proclaiming the gospel in all of its fullness.

When we proclaim the gospel in all of its fullness, we not only tell sinners to leave sin and trust in Jesus, we tell them that having done that, their identities have changed. They are not who they were. They are no longer defined by the past nor their genealogy, but by who they are in Christ and their place as a child.

When we proclaim the gospel in all of its fullness, lives change. Husbands stop beating their wives. Fathers stop beating their children. Drunkenness ceases. Sexually immorality is rejected. Forgiveness abounds.

When we proclaim the gospel in all of its fullness, Christ is glorified. The kingdom of heaven advances. Christ's reign is felt. Satan and his minions tremble in fear and anger. The children of Satan are snatched from his family, and adopted into God's.

Oh, to see it happen: an army of Christ's followers raised up and running into the fields of harvest. The task isn't to large for the Lord of the Harvest. Are we willing to enter the fields and labor? If not, I am afraid we cannot call him "Lord." You don't have to knock on a stranger's door to share Jesus. Invite you lost friends or co-workers over for a barbecue and share what God is doing in your life. Gently confront your neighbors who haven't been in church in a while to see what's going on. Call someone who is having a difficult time and let them know you're praying for them. If a neighbor is swamped with work and family commitments, mow their lawn. Take a widow out for lunch. Encourage someone who is adopting.

Before long, you'll find that the Lord of the Harvest has answered your prayers and sent a laborer out in the field--you. And who knows who else might follow your example?