“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” — Matthew 9:37-38
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Wayne Lukas is an 89-year-old horse trainer. During his career, he’s trained quarter horses and thoroughbreds. Along the way, Lukas set the stage for a lot of jockeys to ride to victory in big races on Saturdays. Recently, he watched as Jaime Torres rode Seize the Grey to win the Preakness Stakes. Even though Torres gets more camera time, Lukas rises at 3:30 a.m. every weekday and arrives at the stables by 4:30 a.m. He walks with a cane and uses a step stool to mount the horses, but he’s determined to keep on working to get horses conditioned for a championship run.
It’s not easy to continue working for a lifetime. We can get weary and frustrated, and we sometimes need a boost to keep a good attitude and keep going. If we want to be consistent in our work, one important key is to pray to God regularly. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is our most important work, and real prayer is labor. If we study the lives of spiritual giants, they prayed often and relied more on God’s power and wisdom than their own. As Jesus said, we see more fruit when we pray. “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field'” (Matthew 9:37-38). God has important, lifelong work for us, so He tells us to pray. And He needs workers for the harvest.
When Jesus gathered and trained His disciples, the job of starting new churches seemed impossible, but Peter and other followers drew inspiration from Jesus and worked until their last breath to spread the Gospel. It started with a declaration of faith and ended with confidence in Almighty God. Jesus asked Peter what he believed — his declaration of faith: “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God'” (Matthew 16:15-16).
Jesus didn’t leave it at that. He went on to establish our work as His body of believers: “Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:17-18). Peter’s confidence in his God compelled him to work his whole life for the glory of God.
In these verses, Jesus promised us that congregations will be formed with groups of Christians. It’s good for us to step forward and be part of this work. In every community, we need organized churches to do the hard work and help people learn about God and grow in faith as we serve the Lord until we see Jesus face to face.
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
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