Tag: Harvest

Praying for harvesters

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HIGHLIGHT

Matthew 9:37–38 (ESV): 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

EXPLAIN

Matthew 9 is a chapter packed with the miraculous exploits of Jesus. Jesus continued to preach and teach in the cities and villages, healing people of various sicknesses and disease, calling different ones to follow him.

In this way, Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God. When he saw crowds of people, curious, needy, bewildered and more, Jesus had compassion on them, for he recognized that they were like sheep without a shepherd. So Jesus gave his disciples a prayer request, to pray for more workers for God’s harvest.

The very next thing we read that Jesus did was then to send his disciples out to various villages on their own in groups of two to spread the gospel of God’s kingdom

APPLY

The harvest of souls for God’s kingdom is great, too great for just a few to bear the load. One of our regular prayer requests should be that God would send forth more laborers into the field. And… we should be ready to be part of God’s answer, working as harvesters.

This scripture truly shows us one of the high points of disciple-making. In disciple-making, we train or mentor others to grow in Christlikeness, but the purpose is not merely their personal edification. Rather, they are to become disciplemakers who make disciples who make disciples.

In Luke 10 we find Jesus sending out the seventy-two and then his joy when they return, excited about what God had done through them. It has been suggested that those seventy-two were disciples made by the Twelve in this first disciple-making mission.

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, I pray that you would continue to send forth laborers into your harvest field. Help me to make disciples who make disciples for your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The law of the harvest

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HIGHLIGHT

Psalm 126:6 (ESV): 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

EXPLAIN

The heading of this psalm doesn’t give many clues about the historical context in which it was written. I tend to picture this as the reaction of the Babylonian exiles, when they received the news that they would be allowed to return to their homeland.

In the final two verses of the psalm, we find the law of the harvest. You must sow in order to reap. Indeed, you reap according to how much you sow.

For the farmers then, what they reaped in harvest had to last them till the next harvest. They had to budget their tithe to God, what they would need to eat for a year, and what they must plant in order to get the next year’s harvest.

When a farmer did not have a good harvest, he could especially feel the pinch as he planted crops for the next year. He was literally throwing his food on the ground. No wonder, he cried as he sowed. Would his family survive on what was left?

Yet he did so in faith, trusting God and believing that sacrifice today results in rewards tomorrow. And when the next harvest resulted in bushels of grain, he came home shouting with joy!

APPLY

The Law of the Harvest still applies to us today. In work and school, we sacrifice and work hard for a payoff later. In our personal spiritual life, we do the hard work now so that we can reap a harvest of righteousness later. In the church, we also must be faithful to plant seeds for the good news today so that there will be a great harvest in the future.

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, help me to live by the Law of the Harvest, sacrificing and working faithfully so that I can reap a good harvest for you in the future. In Jesus’ name, Amen.