10/15/2024
This morning we are reading, and considering, the words that Jesus spoke regarding praying for more people to work in God's fields, and the great commission of taking the gospel abroad. I believe that the church would do well to take this seriously, but as individuals we should pray for these things as well; especially as we are called to them ourselves… Perhaps we will find that we are praying “Lord send me.”
“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:37-38 KJV
I come from a farming family, and when it was time for the harvest they hired many temporary, and migrant, workers. But once the crop had been brought in those workers moved on looking for their next job. This scripture reminds me of that practice. You see, not all workers live on the farm; many will work there for a season and move on to the next ripe field. However, some of us live and work in a single place, and it is our responsibility to share in the labor of harvesting our own fields. Yet, once that harvest is gathered, we are still tasked with storing it, and keeping it from spoiling until the day when it will be needed be consumed, or sent to market.
Those who work jobs which take them to many different places (fields) have the opportunity to harvest diverse crops and in greater numbers. Their calling is different from that of those who remain on the land... the temporary laborers bring in the crops of many fields, and then leave the care of that harvest and the fields that produced it to, the master of the land and his family, as they move on. In the spiritual realm the master is God, and He owns the fields. The harvest is His, and consists of souls. And the workers, whether migrant, family, or local, all work at his beck and call… we call them missionaries.
So as we pray for the missionaries we should always pray for both the workers who travel from place to place gathering souls, and for those who live on the farm and care for it, and its crops, all year long.
I look around at church at my Christian friends, and realize that they have a missionary job that doesn’t involve travel. However, they do touch many different people every day, and when the Lord places them before a local field of souls which is ready for harvest... they are the ones who bring it in, and we need to pray for them. I may be talking about you, I'll bet you never considered yourself to be a missionary, but isn't that exactly who you are when you travel into the business world each day, and God calls you to a field that is ripe for the harvest; His field?
Let’s pray together for the missionaries as they toil in the many harvest fields they visit... But let’s not neglect to pray for one another as we harvest our local fields and tend to their produce long after the harvest is in the barn, and prepare the ground for next year’s crop. I will pray for you, and I hope that you are praying for me, so that we will together have the strength and resources to store and keep the harvest that is being gathered day after day in our own nation, and in our own communities. Can we do this, and not neglect any of those who have been called into the fields as laborers?
Prayer:
Father thank you for calling us to labor in your fields, and to bring in your harvest of souls. Thank you for those who leave home to work on farms and fields around the world, but thank you equally for those of us who remain behind to gather up local crops, and tend to them as your Holy Word, and the gospel of Jesus, directs us. Thank you Lord for those who take great care in preserving the land, and gathering seed from its harvest to be used by you in planting future crops. Help us father to hear your voice whether it calls us to local fields, or from the far off reaches of the world. Help us to tend your fields, harvest your crops, and to put them up securely in storage barns for your good purposes. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who sent your own Son Jesus Christ to gather us up from the various fields of the world. Holy are you whose will it is to cover the whole world in fields of plenty, and to call many laborers to bring in their bounty. Call each of us according to your purpose and will, then use us to tend everything you have created. O Abba, when the harvest is at last complete, reward us with the peace and rest of cool evenings in your presence... prepare feasts and set them before us. Invite us to dine at your table, and later to sit on the porch in quiet conversation with you. Let us sing, make music, and otherwise please you for all eternity Lord. In that day let us rejoice as the thorn is removed from Paul’s flesh. In this hour, the fullness of time, when all of our past sins will have long been washed clean, and we are forgiven by the blood of Christ, let us praise Him. And we pray now that you will then allow us to ease His suffering as we tend to, and heal, the wounds that Calvary left upon Him. These things we pray. This is our prayer from the harvest fields where we have been called.
And all of heaven said… Amen, Amen, Amen!
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.””
Revelation 21:3-5 ESV
Rich Forbes