Where are the Workers?

Matthew 9: 37 "Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I was raised on a ranch owned by Zananovich Farms. This ranch had thousands of acres that spread across the San Joaquin Valley, almost as far as the eye could see. On this ranch you could find grapes of every size, color and flavor, oranges, cherries, lemons, Kiwi's and other assorted fruits and vegetables.

During the winter months, the labor force was small and the ranch seemed quiet, but then when spring arrived, more and more people would show up to prepare the vines, water the fields, and do a host of other chores, preparing for the evental harvest which was only months away. When harvest arrived, the entire valley was a buzz saw of activity. Trucks of all shapes and sizes, tractors of all shapes and sizes, and men and women too numerous to count were hard at work from sun up to sun down, feverishly working to bring the harvest in on time.

Having seen that firsthand, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it would have been virtually impossible for the fruits and vegetables to have been harvested and brought to market without the may hands of the laborers. That is why the saying, "Many hands make light work" is so valuable during the time of harvest.

Jesus is saying the same thing here to his disciples. He is showing us a vivid picture of fields, fields of souls, that are ready to be harvested, men and women of every size, shape and color, but there is not enough laborers to bring the harvest in. As a result, some of the harvest will be lost. So he, the owner of the harvest, asks us to pray for more laborers. Pray that more people will get into the fields and get their hands dirty in order to finish the task of bring in the harvest.

The question today is: Are you a worker who is not in the field? If you are not in the field, what could you possibly be doing that is more important? People are more ready now than ever before to come to Jesus. The world is ripe for the picking, but Jesus needs you. Will you respond to the call?