10/16/2025
Are we praying for God to call us to some great task for the advancement of His kingdom? Do we have a desire to do wonderful things for our Holy Father? Well let’s stop trying to determine how He can best use us and pray instead that God will simply give us the strength to labor in His field in whatever way he desires... and to do so in a way that will win souls and honor Him.
“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."”
Matthew 9:37-38 ESV
Quite often we perceive our skills and natural abilities to be a blessing that God Himself should recognize and use, but they are not nearly as wonderful to Him as we might think them to be. Jesus selected every disciple to become an Apostle, not to preach about how we can better obey the law, or live in this world we find ourselves in, but ultimately to go out into it and spread His gospel.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
Works are incredibly important but if a Pastor isn’t first and foremost preaching the gospel from the pulpit and calling for those wishing to be saved to come forth, then He has missed the primary call of Jesus. If we praise God for having provided us with shoes and neglected to thank Him for sending us on a journey in them to save a soul, then we will have missed the calling. If we have fed the hungry, given water to the thirsty, welcomed a stranger, clothed the naked, or visited the sick and imprisoned, but not communicated the gospel of Jesus Christ to them... then we will have missed the call.
All of the mercies we read in Matthew 25, and more were taught to the twelve disciples, but none of them became their ultimate calling... the great commission is to spread the gospel throughout the world! The things we do in the world around us are all just tools used to accomplish that calling... that mission. Which disciple did Jesus explicitly send into the world to feed the hungry? How about clothing the naked, or these other things? The answer is... none, yet all of us are taught that this is how we as Christians should behave and present ourselves.
Does this bother you as a pastor? Last Sunday you might have preached a wonderful and powerful sermon about loving one another and tending to each other’s needs, then either neglected to make an alter call, or casually mentioned salvation in Passing. You might have worked at the local food bank last week and served 500 meals but neglected to tell a single soul about Jesus Christ. Perhaps you went to the bedside of a sick or dying person and comforted them but never told them of God’s grace and the redeeming blood of Jesus. How often do we give a man drink who is thirsty and never mentioned the living water of Jesus. Haven’t we missed the ultimate call?
“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.””
John 4:13-15 ESV
There is an age-old saying for such things... “He couldn’t see the forest for the trees!” If you are like me, then you often find yourself concentrating on the trees and miss entirely the vastness and magnificence of the forest. We do this by concentrating on a single work for the kingdom of God and miss the call that brought us there in the first place, or by searching for how we can best use our talents while neglecting to ask God what He would have us do. God gives us the gifts we need to win souls, the things we bring to the table are good, but those things we are so proud of don’t determine the success of God’s mission through us.... they are just the scrub brush that keeps us from seeing the Lord’s Forest.
Don’t get me wrong, it is very important to learn and teach how to be more like Jesus in our day to day lives, and to increase ourselves in faith and sanctity, but our primary calling is always to spread the gospel! Do you really know the heart of every man or woman who sits in your church? How about in your Sunday School class, or your midweek bible study? If you are teaching, always make provision for salvation or allow for a renewal of spirit, and invite those around you to discuss that with you. Always invite strangers to Christ, and the prodigal sons to return. Do you really know who they are? Maybe one of those prodigal sons is a man who you have thought of as a saint for many years... do you really know his heart today?
I am not being holier than thou here... this has really been convicting me, and I have found myself guilty of it as well. I am prayerfully wondering how many times I have taught a bible lesson and then walked out of my classroom... leaving a heavy ladened soul behind, or without tending to a saint whose faith was waning and needed encouragement in the gospel.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."”
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for calling me into your field at harvest time. Thank you for placing me in a position where I can be of service to you by preaching or teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Circumcise my heart Father, and by doing so, make me painfully aware of the souls in need around me. Give me insight Lord into the suffering of those who are hurting, or those who are bearing a load of guilt and sin that could crush them. Lead me to pray with the faint and encourage them in their faith. If I do anything for you Father, let it be centered on bringing or returning to you the souls I come in contact with each day. If I preach, let none of my sermons end without a call to your grace, and let my spirit feel the call of the missionary as strongly today as when I first believed. If I feed the hungry let me speak to them of the manna that you have provided in your Son Jesus. If I visit the sick, let me dab their foreheads with more than cool water... lead me in prayer with them regarding the still waters of salvation. Always Father, always, help me to stay focused on your will and my one true call... to deliver the gospel to the world... one sermon at a time, one meal at a time, one cup of water, during one visit to the sick or imprisoned, and by giving one piece of clothing at a time. Then Father, give me the words in prayer to pray with them that will quicken their souls, and bring them swiftly to you. Praised be your name Father. I pray in the name of Jesus that every merciful action, ministry, and delivery of the gospel message glorifies you and either wins a soul or returns the lost and struggling to you.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes