You Are Laborers in God’s Harvest – August 4, 2019 – Steve Miller
I remember that sometime when I was growing up we had a little poster in my room that quipped: “Work for the Lord. The pay may not be much, but the benefits are out of this world.”
Think about the following questions. When you see the word “work,” think not just about jobs that you get paid for, but any kind of work or activity that you spend time, energy, and talents to do.
Luke 10:1-12 - 1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
What an awesome privilege and responsibility God has called us to and entrusted to us, that we should be laborers in His harvest! What authority He has vested in us! Jesus’ command here starts with us praying earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Also, a key aspect of our labor is to work where He sends us. But we must keep mindful that He is not asking us to toil in our own strength, but to labor in Him. He means to be the wind in our sails, the engine in our machine.
Matthew 11:28-30 – 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
When Adam and Eve fell into sin in the garden, part of the curse became fruitless toil. God said that we would toil to get food from the ground, battling thorns and thistles along the way. We would get bread by the sweat of our brow until we return to the ground. This idea does not just apply to farming, but to all of life and all kinds of labor, including producing the works that please God and fulfilling His calling in our lives.
However, there is good news. God provided a Sabbath for His people, a rest from the fruitless toil. And ultimately, the Sabbath is not just a day of the week or a law, for Jesus Himself is the full fulfillment of God’s Sabbath rest for us. He redeemed us from fruitless toil by delivering us from the curse of sin and restoring us to the state of righteousness, fruitfulness, and authority in which we were meant to live and serve Him.
Ephesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
It’s interesting to look at the connection God makes throughout the Bible between food and work, and to compare God’s view of the subject to humans’ thinking about it.
John 4:31-38 – 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Jesus said that His “food” is to accomplish the work leading to the harvest of souls that His Father put in front of Him to do. Food is what drives and energizes us to keep going and what makes us profitable. He gives us rest, He gives us help, and He shares His power, authority, and anointing in the Holy Spirit (a.k.a., the Helper) to accomplish what He has called us to do. He wants us to be joyful and fruitful.
But that grace does not mean that we should sit back and do nothing. We were not put in this world to be entertained. We live in a time and culture where God’s people need to be vigilant not to fall into the selfish philosophy of the world around us.
Jesus understood that the works that He, the Lord of the Sabbath, was doing on the Sabbath to set people free from the effects of sin embodied the concept of true Sabbath rest, setting people free from all kinds of bondage.
John 9:1-7 – 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
The time, life, energy, and gifts that we have been given by God are His gift to enable us to be fruitful, to have opportunity to share in His joy of accomplished work, and to receive rewards from Him in eternity. Our days in this life are finite, but extremely important and full of opportunity and potential.
Psalm 90:12-17 – 12So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
This is Moses’ earnest prayer – crying out to the Lord for His grace, His help, His power, and His favor to establish the work of our hands. Humans have many needs, but a man’s deepest desire is to be successful in his work.
To do this, we must seek the Lord to show us and equip us for His will and calling for our lives. This cannot be done outside of right relationship with Him through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Along with that, we must be baptized with the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to give us to guide, help, encourage and empower us. Being filled with the Spirit is not just a one-time event, but a daily lifestyle. (Reading His Word, listening to Him, worshiping Him, fasting and prayer, fellowship with His people.) As we walk with Him, God’s grace enables us to do the work that He has chosen for us, joyfully and fruitfully.
Psalm 127:1-2 – 1Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
