Laborers Together with God

I’ve been contemplating the thoughts in Matthew 9:35-38 lately.

Matthew 9:35-38
(35)And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
(36) But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
(37) Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
(38) Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

And this time it really hit me- Jesus never says that believers are few. He doesn’t say that Christians are few.

He makes the statement that laborers are few.

Now, in this verse, laborer means: A toiler, teacher, a worker. 

Work? Why does it have to be work? Can’t we just pray, and God will give us a person to share the Gospel with, and they will believe, and that will be that? We can have our cake and eat it too, in this Christian life of ease. We can be just like Mr Lunt from Lord of the Beans…

(If you haven’t seen it you need to watch it. Brilliant.)

Anyway, that is not what God is calling us to. in 1 Corinthians 3:9 it tells us that we are laborers together with God. And you guessed it, the word ‘labor’ here still means work. 

So even though we partner with God to reach people with the truth of the Gospel, it’s still gonna look and feel like work! Verse 8 of that same chapter says that some plant, and some water, and you will be rewarded according to your work. 

Ew. There’s that word again. Work.

But you see, Jesus is giving us the example even back in Matthew 9. Verse 35 tells us that He was busy teaching, healing people in all the cities and villages. That sounds like work to me.

And what was the result of Him spending time with these hurting people? When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion on them. He didn’t see them as a duty, or a burden, or an annoyance. Spending time among them and helping heal them moved Him with compassion. 

Jesus tells us in John 9:4 that He has to work while it is still day because night is coming, and no one can work in the dark.

There’s that word ‘work’ again. We just can’t get away from it!

Matthew 9:38 says that we should pray for God to send more laborers into the harvest.

When was the last time you worked in the garden with God so you could help reap the harvest? Perhaps when we pray for more laborers, we ought to ask the Lord to start with us. 

Here am I, Lord- send me.