Thursday, August 24, 2017

Laborers Or Warm Bodies?

"Then He said to His disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Matthew 9:37-38 (NKJV)

In my life I have had many different jobs, doing a wide variety of things.  I have done some very simple things, like working in a store taking payments from customers and I have had some jobs that were more labor intensive.  I have also had some jobs where I was in a position to oversee others and manage the business, file reports, and deal with customers and their complaints.  One thing all of my jobs have had in common was that before I started the work I had to go through a process of training to be ready to do the work, even if I had done something similar in the past.

No matter what type of work you do you will need some training and you will probably also have to undergo some continued education.  This is something that is understood in the business world and no one would raise a question about it.  But, when it comes to the things of God, serving in our church, and doing our part in God's Kingdom, we sometimes think that if we just love Jesus we can start doing whatever we want and somehow it will all work out.  Some Christians think that somehow, by the power of the Holy Spirit, everything will happen the way that it should no matter what we do.

When Jesus saw the multitudes He said that the harvest was great but the laborers were few.  Jesus told His disciples to pray for more laborers to be sent out into the harvest.  Jesus did not really say that just more people were needed, He said more laborers were needed.  God is looking for Christians who have grown up spiritually and developed the necessary skills to do the required work in the harvest field.  There is a place for every Christian in the harvest today, but we need to be trained laborers and not just warm bodies; the more development and training we have, through the Word and by the Holy Spirit, the more effective we will be.

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