The Shortage

And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Luke 10:2

I need this verse to help me keep things in perspective. Before I go off griping about how bad things are and complaining about all those “sinners” out there, I need this verse to set me straight.

Basically, Jesus says that the problem is with a shortage of people willing to spread his Gospel. The problem is not that people have heard Jesus’ message and rejected it, but rather that those of us who know it are not communicating it sufficiently.

If we take Jesus’ metaphor to heart, there are billions of people around the globe who would be receptive to hearing and receiving his message of forgiveness and grace. And they, like ripened fruit on a vine, are simply waiting for someone to come and “pluck” them.

Jesus didn’t tell us to pray for the harvest, because the shortage is not there. He told us to pray for laborers. It’s very much as if Jesus created a start-up company and the demand for his product has greatly outmatched his employees’ ability to respond. What a great problem to have!

What does this mean to you and me? It means that today we will quite likely pass by someone who is very open to hearing Christ’s message. Our culture’s overall climate of hostility toward Jesus and His followers must not intimidate us. The ripe souls are still out there.

Think about this today. Be the laborer that Jesus told us to pray for.

Father, make us the laborers You prayed for. Make us alert to the harvest around us and obedient to Your call to set them free. In Jesus’ name . . .

 

 

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