Then said He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Matthew 9:37
A wealthy farmer had planted several hundred acres of crops, dwarfing the efforts of his poor neighbour, who could afford to plant only a couple of small fields. The growing season was favourable, and the crops flourished. But as the harvest neared, the rich farmer was stricken with a fatal disease. After he died, it was revealed that he had bequeathed his fields to his poor neighbour. It seemed like a generous gesture until the harvest time, when the poor farmer realized he did not have the machinery or the manpower to gather in all those bountiful crops. He must have felt as the Lord Jesus did to see a great potential harvest that might never be realized for lack of workers.
With the world population now in excess of seven billion people, the harvest truly is plenteous. Most of those seven billion people have no idea of who Jesus Christ is. And of those who recognize His name, most of them believe Him to be merely a religious historical person. Not in a thousand years has there been such a high percentage of ignorance concerning the Gospel. As the world’s population grows, and as the multitudes age and die (one Canadian, for example, dies every two minutes) the need for the Gospel increases exponentially. And yet, the number of preachers is barely holding its own. We rejoice at the expansion of Gospel work in countries such as Mexico, but weep that the numbers reached in such places are pitifully small compared to the need. As handfuls are rescued, millions perish without Christ. As a faithful few men and women are added to the ranks of missions, an ocean of opponents sweep across the world with cults, false religions of all kinds, apathy, and atheism that sop up the vast majority of mankind in their destruction of souls. What a desperate need exists for labourers!
In the verse that follows our text, Jesus tells his disciples to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers. As we wring our hands in helplessness at the great need, we can take courage in this: we can pray for labourers. As we encourage each other to be better witnesses for our Lord and to be faithful supporters of the spresd of the Gospel, we can pray for labourers. As we take an interest in the work of the missionaries and the preachers, and as we provide them with financial and spiritual support, we can pray for labourers. As we pray for our lost loved ones and the unsaved family members of others in the Assembly, we can pray for labourers.
Our Lord desires that we pray for more labourers for the harvest. And He desires that we do our part of the labour. -Jim MacIntosh