Thursday 4 October 2007

Thursday Reading: Matthew 9:35-38
 
Key Verse: Matthew 9:38
38  Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send out labourers into His harvest.
 
Devotion:
Jesus was a “man on a mission” whilst He was down on earth. He continued to visit all manner of people, not just the rich or those who lived in big cities, but those that lived in small villages too. Everyone needs to be able to hear the gospel no matter what position they have in society. We sometimes think that the lower people are that the more likely they are to look to Christ for help – the truth may well be far from that. The more we are caught up in life, the less we think about God. The less we think about Him, the less time we are going to set aside for Him.
 
We need to set aside time each and every day to make sure that we do commune with Him. He wants us to learn from His word and to be able to depend on Him. The only way that we are going to be able to do that is by spending more time with Him. To be able to spend more meaningful time with Him, we have to be able to have access to people who can help us to learn His Word. There are simply not enough people out there who have dedicated their lives to helping others into God's Word. This is what we have to pray for – more people who can spend that time teaching others and exposing them to the truth.
 
Just like a farmer having many fields full of crops and no labourers to come and help harvest them, our world has so many people in it and not enough people that have the dedication to go out and tell someone about Jesus. Going out into a field to harvest the wheat with a single scythe when you have access to a combined harvester is not going to get you much of your crop in. People who have spent time in dedicated instruction so that they can bring that instruction to others are few and far between. We may not be able to teach them anything, but we can sure pray that we get access to them! Praying about it will show that you really do mean it!
 
Points to Ponder:
Who do you go to for instruction?
 
How many people can you really call on day or night to help with God's instruction?