June 10- Luke 10:2-3

THE VERSE

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you."
~Luke 10:2-3

THE THOUGHT

Here, in the precursor and foreshadowing of the Great Commission, Jesus lays out the problem and solution of world missions. The problem: the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Oh, that God would grip our hearts with this tragedy! All around the world, millions are falling into a Christless eternity, still in their sins, still under wrath. All around the world, the worship of Jesus is being stolen by idols. The harvest is plentiful—billions of souls waiting to hear the gospel—but oh, how few are the laborers!

Now comes the solution, but it’s not what you think. “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers… behold, I am sending you.” Jesus answers the prayers of the disciples before they even start praying. If you have ever prayed for the cause of missions, look in the mirror: there is the answer to your prayer. Robert Spear wrote powerfully, "There is nothing in the world or the Church--except the church's disobedience--to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility.” For those who dally, for those who prefer the comforts of modern convenience to laying your life down and carrying your cross to unreached world, hear the convicting words of William Booth:

"'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”

Oh, that we would join heart and soul and body and circumstance in the march to publish His mercy to the world! Will you go?

THE PRAYER

Father, Here I am, send me. I don’t want to disobey anymore; I want to join You in Your great and glorious work of making Jesus Christ famous throughout the world. Whether You call me to the jungles or to my neighborhood, whether You make me a missionary or a missions-mobilizer, I want to obey You. You have given me all of my talents, all of my time, and all of my resources for this massive cause of making You known; help me to dedicate all to You.

EXTENDED READING

Matthew 28:18-20
Luke 10:1-9
Acts 1:6-8
Romans 15:18-21

THE QUOTE

"Go, send, or disobey." -- John Piper