Jesus calls for Laborers

Matthew 9:37

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Observation:

This verse just totally turned my world upside down! This is the most encouraging bible verse I have read in a long time! If you read it too quickly you will miss all the truth that it contains. Maybe you already know these things, but I have read this verse 50 times probably, and the light just went on in my head. Here are the 3 things that jumped out of my Bible and hit me in the face:

1. The harvest is plentiful: 

Sometimes I feel like nobody wants to follow Christ. But Jesus tells us here that there are plenty who are ready to receive the good news of the kingdom.

2. the laborers are few:

It's not always that nobody wants to hear the good news about Jesus, the problem is that nobody wants to share the good news and be a laborer. There's not enough laborers.

3. pray earnestly to the Lord to send out laborers:

Instead of praying that people would get saved we should pray that people who are already saved would share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Application:

Sometimes when I'm on my knees praying for the salvation of family members and friends, I hear a small voice in my mind. This is what the voice says, "Instead of always praying that someone would be born again, why don't you sit down with them and explain the gospel?" If you think about it, it makes perfect sense, because if people don't know that Christ died for their sins, how can they be born again? If people don't see themselves as sinners, why would they repent and call upon the name of the Lord? If people don't know they're going to stand before God and be cast into hell, why would they see the cross as precious and why would they see Jesus as the way to eternal life? 

Romans 10:14-15

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Jesus is telling us that the problem with the harvest is that there's not enough laborers to gather it all. Jesus is telling me that the problem is me. I'm the problem. Sometimes we feel like just because we volunteer on Sunday mornings, we have done our job. We feel like just because we read our Bibles and journal everyday, we have done our job. It would be sad for someone to go through the entire Bible, year after year, but never tell their co-workers about the cross. It would be sad for someone take notes every Sunday, but never share the truth of God's word with a friend. I always hear people say this, "I just share the love of Jesus by the way I live my life." But at the same time, the person that says that, talks about so many things and is passionate about so many things that are not about Jesus.

John 4:35

Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

2 Thessalonians 3:14

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you...

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Question: How many people that know you, have heard the Good News, out of your mouth?