Growing up on a small farm in Illinois, I grew to love working with my dad in the fields whether that be in the spring doing tillage & planting or in the fall harvesting & doing fall tillage. I enjoyed being in the tractor and in the field. I still love it to this day and treasure the few opportunities I get to do it yet. There is just something about the smell of freshly tilled earth or freshly cut hay. Whether harvesting wheat on my wife’s family farm in summer or harvesting corn and soybeans on my family’s farm in the fall, there is something special about the harvest time.
Jesus in Matthew 9 was traveling through various villages and towns seeing the needs of the people and having compassion on them. As they were going, he spoke to his disciples.
The harvest in plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.
Matthew 9:37-38 NET
I can remember the signs of harvest. In Kansas, it was golden wheat heads & rustling plants on a dry day. In Illinois, it was crunchy corn stalks rattling in the wind. There is a harvest before us that many of us don’t always pay attention to though, a harvest of souls.
Reading this popular verse, I might have thought initially of foreign lands and praying for missionaries to rise up to bring the gospel to these people. And that is certainly a need. There are millions of people in what we call the 10/40 window who are still waiting to hear the gospel message. We should be praying for God to raise up workers who will either go to these areas or work among their own countrymen.
Prayer and financial support are important aspects of help missionaries on the field, but they are not the only ways we can be involved. One farmer I worked for had fields all over the county. I remember driving 20 minutes from one farm to another a couple of times. This was strange to me because growing up all of our fields were within 2 miles of home. Perhaps in praying for workers for the harvest, God is calling to you to be a worker, not in some far away place but in the ripe field of your own backyard so to speak.
We are all called to be ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). We are all called to be light and salt in our local contexts (Matt 5:13-16). We are all called to make disciples (Matt 28:19). We are all called to live in such a way that our deeds point to the hope we’ve found in Christ (Phil 2:15). We are all called to be ready to speak of the hope of Christ (1 Pt 3:15).
As you have a few moments in the coming week, take some time to draw a map of your neighborhood. Think through the individuals that live on your block or on your road. Draw out the houses and list the names of the people that live in each home. Then spend 5 minutes each day praying for a different home & the people that live in it. Find purposeful ways to connect with your neighbors. Pray about the conversations you’ll have with them before they happen, that God might guide your mouth for his glory. Remember that we each have an eternal destiny. The question is where is each person going. May the Lord so burden each of our hearts that we cannot help but share the hope of Christ.
Pray for additional harvest workers, yes. But also BE a harvest worker yourself, overcoming your personal fears through the Spirit to lead people to Jesus Christ who offers everlasting life.