The Harvest is Great
Key Verse: Luke 10:2
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”
Additional Reading: Luke 10:1-20
Today’s devotion is what we might call Jesus’s First Missionary Effort!
Jesus commissioned 72 disciples and sent them out to preach and teach His message to every community they entered. Jesus instructed them not to take their own provisions with them but rather accept the hospitality of the individuals that would invite them into their homes. If a home or a community refused to receive them, Jesus told them to proclaim loudly, “We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate” (Luke 10:11).
One of the first lessons from Luke10 is what to do when building God’s Kingdom and the “workers are few”. Jesus told his disciples to “pray to the Lord, who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields” (Luke 10:2).
I hear a lot of complaining from church leaders about needing more volunteers for the work in building God’s Kingdom. However, I don’t hear a lot of praying for those workers! Jesus told us the God is the Lord of the Harvest; He oversees drawing the lost into His Kingdom. One of the many ways He does this is to call believers to help in Kingdom building. Let’s not hesitate in praying for God to give believers a nudge to help the cause of God’s church. Wouldn’t it be great if Pastors and leaders start receiving calls from people who felt “lead” to volunteer in the cause of Christ?!
The second lesson I feel is important in this passage of Scripture is found in the Luke 10:20: “But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven”. I’ve been making it a practice each morning in my prayers to start them with praising God for uniting me with Jesus! Our salvation doesn’t start with us, it starts with the God who loved us so much that He drew us to Himself. When we say “yes”, He then unites us with Christ so that we might abide in Him forever. Once we step into eternity, I’m convinced we’ll suddenly realize how great this gift is and we’ll spend eternity praising God for it.
It’s okay to praise God for our health, our family, and the many blessings He provides His children while on this earth. But above all things, be sure to rejoice – often – that you are a child of God and will spend eternity with Him. It certainly was a big deal for these disciples to see the power of God working through them. However, Jesus wanted them to never forget their greatest joy should be their eternal life with Him.
Father, I praise you for drawing me to yourself and uniting me with Jesus! May I praise you throughout eternity! In Jesus’s Name, amen.