Preparing for the harvest

Matt9:37,38
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.

Often times when we hear that the harvest is coming we get an expectation in our hearts that God is about to do something marvelous. Problem is that often we "wait" for it. Based on the above passage Jesus is telling us that the harvest is already ready. The harvest is full. We need to be asking God to prepare our hearts for the harvest. What needs to be worked on in our own hearts to get ourselves ready? What obstacles are in the way? We need to move out in faith and trust God for his grace to fulfill his mandate. To be effective 'workers' we need to be obedient to what God is putting on our hearts.

In Luke 16:10 Jesus teaches us "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much".

Often times we look at the prize while forgetting the vital steps to get us there. Matthew 10:42 says 'And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.'

If we look to 'win' lost souls for Christ (What does it mean to "win' souls for Christ, it's not in the bible hmmm?) while forgetting the simple things; simple things like baking some cookies for your neighbor, letting a co worker share thier frustrations, shovelling someone's walk, sending a card of encouragement when someone is sick or depressed...the list goes on. If we dont show them Christ's love this simple way we are missing a very important part of effective evangelism.

If we sit back in our pews and don't begin praying and asking God to send the workers as well as preparing our own hearts, we will be sitting here a year from now asking where the harvest was that God had promised.

The harvest is here...It always has been, If anything this is a wake up call for the church to get out there and begin showing the love of Christ. If we wait for the right moment or the right motivation...we wont go.