Today is a Work Day

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Matthew 9:37‭-‬38 AMP

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I’ve repeatedly existing businesses being impacted by staffing shortages. In each case, there is plenty of work that needs to be done, but positions remain open and unfilled. I’m not going to get into the political opinions behind “why” people think this is happening or “who” they have decided to blame for this situation. But I’m guessing that unless you’ve been holed up inside your house for the last 3 years, that you’ve probably noticed some type of impact to businesses around you where it seems they are at times short staffed and having a pretty rough time maintaining the quality and efficiency they would hope for. The work might still all get done with fewer workers, but it takes longer or the quality suffers, or the workers get burned out, etc. Clearly in those situations, things are not running in the midst optimal way.

A similar perspective can be appreciated when it comes to God’s Kingdom harvest. I don’t want to get mired up in whether your doctrine would have you looking at a set number of “elected” who will be harvested by fewer workers — or would have you considering the increased numbers of possibly unreached souls if workers aren’t fulfilling their call to evangelize. I will say that a healthy balance is to consider both perspectives with a healthy fear of God and sense of purpose — in order to not be complacent in our walk and in our calling.

There is work for you and I. There is no profit on our complaining or blaming whatever easy “they” we pick to point our fingers at — but there is a lot of value in our looking at our own life and being honest with ourselves about what we are doing as our part in the harvest.

What Kingdom work are we doing today?

We can’t remain satisfied living off of memories of the work we once did in the name of God, nor can we put off until tomorrow the work than can and should be done today.

Believer, are you a worker? Because the words Christian, believer, worker, and disciple should be one and the same! How can we say we believe, yet ignore the very things we say we believe in how we live and how we serve God?

Isn’t the worst heresy and most blasphemous thing that a “christian” could do be to say that the Holy Spirit of Almighty God lives within me — but prove to the world by our life’s testimony that we are dead, empty, complacent about God’s Word — that we are half as loving, and twice as wicked as they are themselves!

Lord, whatever we have to bring in the way of your Kingdom work today, don’t let us hide it away — but help us to be effective so that our work is multiplied for your glory and honor. Help us remember the joy in the working alongside you — the joy in a life lived in worship. You know the dangers and the traps we are prone to fall into when walking on our own, so lead us hand in hand today in what you have for us. And if we have grown complacent, stir us and wake us from our weariness and the hardness of our hearts. Heal us, prepare us, and use us — even as we repent, surrender, and step out in faith. Your grace is sufficient. Send us out to be your workers today, and every day until the harvest is complete. Amen.