Feb 11: Be Prepared for the End Time Harvest.

Mathew 9:37-38: 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.”

Diseases, sicknesses, evil spirits, were all rampant amongst the children of Israel. Outwardly they might have looked good and as if nothing was wrong, but inside they were suffering terribly. When Jesus the Son of God entered this world, He wasted no time delivering the people from their oppression. His ministry did not stay within the walls of a synagogue, rather it was outside among the people that were lost and with no one to help them. And so He did everything possible in His power to help the people. Verse 36 says “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

But Jesus was still just one person. While in human form, he could not be present everywhere. And He needed more people to help him. He chose 12 men and commissioned them to go and preach the news of God’s kingdom to them, and to deliver people from their sicknesses and oppression. He gave them the authority to cast out unclean spirits and heal the people’s diseases and sicknesses (Mt 10:1-2). Even then there were more people that needed deliverance than the number of people available to deliver. In short, the demand was much greater than the supply. So Jesus says “the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are  few”.

Isn’t it interesting that the Creator of this universe would use mere mortals such as us to fulfill His divine will? Broken, weak, unstable, often unwise beings such as you and me are God’s chosen method of bringing salvation to this world. But that might be exactly God’s point in all this. God uses imperfect vessels to accomplish His perfect plans. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless (Isa 40:29). Complete with flaws and blemishes, Jesus sent twelve men to bring deliverance to the dying world around them.

2000 years later, there is no shortage of sicknesses, diseases and evil spirits. In fact, without looking at any statistics, I can comfortably claim that things have only got worse since the beginning of time. Granted, people might not be dying of polio anymore, but look at the rise in mental health sicknesses such as depression and anxiety. Consider the rise in cases of autism, heart disease, cancer, even allergies. Even if only 10% of the world’s population are with some sort of sickness, that is still a staggering 800 million people that needs deliverance!

Come to think about it, we need a lot more disciples of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, and bring salvation into this world, today than ever before. But notice the words of Jesus in relation to this. He says “ pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”. We cannot do anything by our own strength. We need power from above to accomplish this extraordinary task. We need to be commissioned by Jesus Himself as part of his task-force.

So let’s pray. Ask the Lord sincerely to send out more disciples who will tirelessly work for the kingdom of God. Forsaking worldly pleasures and desires, fully available and ready to do God’s work. The world is waiting for such people. Jesus is wanting such people. And if you feel you are one of them: Be prepared. God’s end time harvest is about to go full swing.