When you think about the lost, do you believe that
it seems to be increasingly difficult to reach them? Do you wish that people
were more receptive and willing to discuss their eternal destiny? Or have you
ever prayed something like, “Oh Lord, please direct me to people who are ready
for the message of salvation?”
I have prayed like that in the past and still do;
but over time I have come to realise something very important - that the Lord
is saying that there are many people eagerly waiting to talk about issues such
as where they will spend eternity. Many of them are ready not only to
hear the Gospel but are also prepared to respond!
One of my favourite scriptures is this:
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
When I had been a Christian for just a few months,
at a house group meeting, my group leader Phylip had asked me to prepare a five
minute message on a piece of scripture. I got it all together and read the
verse and made my comments finishing with the statement, “I am not sure whether
I agree with that”. He swiftly stated that I needed to decide whether I
believed the Bible was true in its entirety or not. It was basically all or
nothing. That evening I was challenged and concluded that I believed it, all of
it, even the parts like Jonah and the whale. My reasoning was, “If God said it,
then it’s good enough for me!”
Is the
harvest plentiful?
Why explain this here - what connection does it
have with the verse of scripture that you have just read about the harvest and
lack of workers? I read some research recently which caught my attention. The
Lifeway Organisation in America
stated that approximately 60 million Americans are more than willing to meet
with a Christian to talk about Jesus Christ. Wow! That equates to around 20% of
the entire population. My immediate thoughts were that it will probably be a
similar figure in the UK,
where I live and many other countries. That is great news isn’t it?
Now, some people might say, “That’s only two out of
ten”. My response to that is, “The shepherd left the ninety nine to go after the
one that was lost, didn’t He?”
“What
do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will
he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that
wandered off?” Matthew 18: 12
Let’s be positive about this. “Your attitude
determines your altitude”, speaker and author Zig Ziglar says. Well, a person’s
attitude to the Gospel certainly does determine their eternal altitude when you
think about it, doesn’t it?
When I read about the survey I said to myself, “Let’s
get searching for them”. Thinking of adults, in the first instance – if we lead
a married man or woman to Christ, the effect that it has on their family can
have an enormous impact, with others in the household accepting Christ. It can
literally be like throwing a stone into a pond with the ripples going outwards.
This happened in our family; during the first year
or so after I was saved, first of all my wife, then my mother, my daughter, my
parents-in-law, two brothers-in-law and my father-in-law’s friend, who was an
atheist, all accepted Jesus as Lord too. Most of them did not appear to
be ready in the least for the message. It was seeing a dramatic change in me
that opened the door for the Holy Spirit to move. In fact, just think of the
man that led Billy Graham to the Lord, literally millions of people have come
to Christ through his ministry.
God is so good. Apparently in the case of a married
man who commits his life to Christ, between 80 - 90% of the immediate family
turn the Lord, with the figure being around 40% for married women. The numbers
are much lower for children.
Now, if we truly believe what the scriptures say,
that means every word Jesus said becomes factual in our minds. It is a truth,
because after all, He’s God in the flesh. Or as a friend of mine says, “Jesus
is God with skin on”. His word is always true and He never, ever lies.
As a salesman many years ago I was taught to ask a
question as part of our sales process. The answer a prospective client or
customer gave was always the same. Here is the question: “Tell me Mr. Client,
are you the sort of person that makes decisions based on facts?” The answer was
always an emphatic “Yes”
Faced with the same question, your answer would be
the same too. So, if you truly believe Jesus is who He says He is, and you
believe what He said, it means you can certain of it. It’s totally reliable,
there is no doubt about it as it’s steadfast, unfailing, always dependable.
Key Point: Be happy to sow the seed of
the Gospel, even if you don’t reap the harvest.
The Lord went further when He explained in the book
of John that sometimes we will sow and we may well end up feeling that we have
got nowhere other than just planting a seed. That’s good; we all need to be
planting seed. But sometimes we will reap and see souls saved where we have
done very little work. Brilliant! I will happily sow so that others may reap
from my small efforts. The important point is that people come to a decision
for Christ.
Jesus was very clear about what would happen if we
would just look up, when He said:
Do you
not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I
say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already
white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for
eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For
in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap
that for which you have not laboured; others have laboured, and you have
entered into their labours.” John
4:35-38
I believe that the Lifeway research undoubtedly
proves that what Jesus said is true. It is a truly wonderful experience
when you lead someone to Christ, and who knows what they will do with Jesus?
They could be another Smith Wigglesworth or Charles Finney. There will be times
when we will have to step out of our comfort zones, but there are people who
are waiting and ready to talk and this is a crucial opportunity.
Let’s get searching for those who are waiting for
someone to speak to them. We know they are out there and God desires to use US to reach them!
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