Where Are The Labourers?

WHERE ARE THE LABOURERS?

By Rodney W. Francis.

In recent times I have been challenged afresh by the words of Jesus Christ concerning the gathering in of the harvest. Consider this: “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary (“harassed”) and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ’The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest’” (Matthew 9:35-38, NKJV; also Luke 10:1-9).

Who is Jesus speaking to? He was speaking to His disciples, those committed to following Him and His teachings. Who are the labourers? They are the born-again, Holy Spirit-filled believers on Jesus Christ.

Why, then, the reluctance on the part of Christians to obey the command of Jesus Christ?

To be chosen, called and commissioned of God for His service has to be the highest honour and privilege that we can have this side of eternity. Yet Jesus tells us the labourers are few! When the labourers are few, then the harvest gets lost; it is not gathered in.

It is wasted because Christians do not answer the call!

ONLY CHRISTIANS CAN BE TRUE LABOURERS!

Only Christians can be used to gather in the harvest, and only Christians can understand who and what the harvest is. Unsaved, non-born-again people have no idea of what Jesus is talking about. So the responsibility of the gathering in of the harvest rests with us ~ you and me!

Do we realize the responsibility that Jesus has placed upon us to do this?
What are we doing about it?

PRAY!

The first response is to pray. Prayer brings us into submission to God and His purposes. True prayer puts us in a position where we desire the will of God to be done in our life. It is a yielding of self to Jesus. If we are half-hearted about the gathering in of the harvest, then our prayer life will be found wanting.

Again I ask the question:

Why is there such reluctance amongst Christians to make themselves available to Jesus Christ for the gathering in of the harvest?

Look at what Jesus says in John 4:35-38: “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not laboured; others have laboured, and you have entered into their labours.”

NO EXCUSES!

Notice that the non-responding Christians were “putting off until tomorrow what Jesus expected of them today”! They were saying, “The harvest is not ready yet ~ it is still four months away,” when in actual fact it was “already white for harvest”. They were bound by excuses; and excuses will always rob us of the will of God being done in our lives. I have learned that as long as I have an excuse I will always disobey what the Lord is asking of me. I had to come to a place where there are no excuses. An excuse is telling God that we know better than He! It is an admission of unbelief in what Jesus is telling us. And that is very sad. It is also very costly, as we get robbed of the purposes of God being outworked in our lives.

EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CALLED TO GATHER THE HARVEST!

Our experience in The GFM Ministry is that the fields are already white to harvest. We cannot keep up with all the opportunities that come our way to gather it all in. It concerns us to see the harvest wasting. It is my conviction that every Christian believer is chosen and called of God to be involved in the gathering in of the harvest. When we consider the teachings of Jesus, He called people to be labourers; to take His message to the ends of the earth, so all will have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is to make us effective witnesses of Jesus wherever we go (Acts 1:8). He said to those who believed Him: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” . . . And they (the believing disciples) went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen” (Mark 16:15-20).

How can people be a part of the harvest if the Christians do not tell them the Good News of Jesus Christ and what He came to this earth for?
Every Christian believer has a part to play.
What is your part?
Are you involved in getting the Message of Jesus Christ out to the nations?

You do not have to be theologically trained to share the Good News of Jesus. We only have to be fully committed to Jesus and His cause, and He will lead and guide us to people, give opportunities to witness of Him, pray for needs, etc. But it doesn’t happen if we are not available for God to take us out of our “comfort zone.”

Multitudes around the world are searching for answers to life. If we Christians do not give them the True Answer, Jesus Christ, the enemy gives them a counterfeit ~ and they become part of the lost, wasted harvest. Does this concern us?

The reason Jesus has saved each one of us is because He believes in us.
He sees the divine potential that he has placed within every one of us.
Our responsibility is to respond in a positive way to that which He has entrusted to us, rise up and fulfil our destiny in this day and age.
Each one of us can do it! Jesus Christ has enabled us through the power of the Holy Spirit ~ the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead ~ and He NOW LIVES INSIDE OF YOU AND ME!
It’s time for the labourers to respond! (see Isaiah 6).

Let there be an over-abundance of Christians willing to answer the call of Jesus Christ to go and gather in the harvest that is all around us! There is no greater calling or privilege this side of eternity. Praise the Lord! He is counting on YOU!

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