Have you ever been sent to deliver a message to someone? Have you had to deliver a message to a crowd of strangers that may or may not be received well? If you have, how comfortable were you doing so? If not, how do you think you would feel about doing so?
Being the messenger can be difficult. So difficult that we even preface our statement with, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” It can be even more difficult if we are presenting a message to a crowd of people we don’t know while not knowing if they will receive it well.
Jesus sent out seventy-two of His followers in pairs to tell people in towns He was going to visit about Him. Now, it would be easy to tell them there was a miracle worker coming who could heal all their sick. But telling them that He was going to preach to them about a new way of living that did not include the old Jewish laws would be a different story.
Yet, they went on their way. They carried the message Jesus told them to carry. So, why did Jesus send them out? He said, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Jesus used those He had to start sending the message out. He didn’t ask. He said, “Go” and they went. He also told them to pray that God would send more laborers. I’m sure they prayed quite a lot about along their way.
We need to pray that God will send more laborers into the field today. Why? First, our world needs to hear the gospel message, accept it, and choose to follow Jesus. Second, we do not have near enough pastors, preachers, or priests. There are churches who have no pastor. There are communities with no church. We need more laborers who are willing to go into the harvest and speak the gospel message.
I pray we all ask God to send more laborers into the harvest. I pray we prayerfully consider whether we might answer that call. I pray each one of us will tell someone else about Jesus. Ask God to send laborers. Consider being a laborer yourself. Tell others about Jesus.
Luke 10:1-2 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Marty Pressey 