What do workers do?

http://bible.com/116/mat.9.37-38.nlt
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

What do workers do?  They work and they get paid. But those who don’t work get fired because they are useless. Are we working, not working but hoping to not get fired, or satisfied with a free check that we aren’t willing to work for?

Observation
There are so few workers for Christ in this world. There are a lot of people who want to claim Christ for what they think He can give them, wanting to be master over a genie they can pay to for blessings – trying to make God the worker and themselves the master. There are a lot of people working hard to plan a career path and to build up their financial wealth and status so they might try to find comfort and security in their wealth, but how many would say they put similar effort into planning how they might work for the Lord and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth?

An alive Christian life is not one lost in idleness or spent indulging in the distractions of this world without putting in work for the Lord. And don’t get me wrong,  I’m not saying that you have to do works in order to earn your salvation,  or that God is going to love you any more or less if you aren’t doing works for him. In fact, if we are the ones doing the works,  they are like filthy rags to Him.

No, I’m saying that if we have Christ alive in us, we can’t keep his work bottled up inside, we can’t keep him hidden under a lampshade. You see,  His living waters are there to overflow our cup so that we not only grow,  but that we bear fruit in our lives that is nourishing and good for the people around us. His light shining forth from our lives increases as we decrease and it exists so that others in darkness might see the light.

When we look at the world around us and say things like, “This world needs revival” – are we working to bring revival?  Or are we expecting some other saint that we believe is “better equipped” to do it for us while we sit idle and distracted by this world? Do you not believe that you have Christ alive in you,  friend? Do you not believe that through Him all things are possible? Are you not called to pick up your cross and do the work of your teacher and Lord?

Hope
You are called friend. You have a purpose in His Kingdom. It is time to putt your hand to the plow and to not look back. It is time for you to hear His voice and step forth from your sleep of death and get to work. And if you hear that voice of shame and regret for what little you have done, you throw off those chains and cling to the healing robes of Jesus Christ. Humble yourself at the foot of the cross and surrender your life to be a worker in His fields,  and know the Hope of Glory that is yours to claim.

Faith
This walk of being a worker for Christ,  a student of the Word of God,  a servant to your brothers and sisters, a lover of your neighbor and even those who make themselves your enemy – it is not promised to be easy or to not involve struggle or trial or burdens, but He does promise that the burdens will be light if we rest in His strength, and that the payment for our work is already guaranteed. So we are to put our hand to the plow and not look back if we are fit for the kingdom of God.

Love
In fact, it is through grattitude for the gift received that we find our hearts in the right condition to share in the work of His Kingdom. It is in the realization that He loved us first,  even in our sin,  that we realize how much we want to be like Him. And we realize that there is power in this love,  there is power in the truth of the Word of God to change lives for the better,  to pull lives from the darkness – and that we are the vessels available to do His work.

Call to Action
Do not be satisfied today with sitting on the sidelines if you are not in the game. Prepare yourselves. Make yourselves ready. Surrender your life to Christ. Put on the full armor of God. Cry out to the Lord,  asking Him to “put me in the game,  coach!” And watch what Christ in you will do to the world around you.

He is a game changer. And the fields are ripe for harvest friends.

Get to work living, beloved.

Make your career plan for serving Christ Jesus, put in your work,  and see how low your goals were compared to what He will do through you as a fully surrendered worker in His fields.

Prepare yourselves, make ready,  and be busy about the work of God,  beloved. His Kingdom is at hand.