We get to work and if you're like me, you have a to-do list. As you begin your work, you start checking emails and find there are more things you have to add to your list. Going about your day you begin to start erasing some of the items on your list. You feel so accomplished because you're going cover to your dry erase board where your to do list is and things are getting crossed off. Then you get a call. It's your boss. And now they need you to stop what you're doing because they have a few things they need to add to your plate. As you're accomplishing those tasks, something unexpected pops up and is added to your list.
By the end of the day you're tidying up your desk, checking some final emails, and packing your things to go home. As you shut down your computer you turn to your dry erase board. You quickly glance over it in preparation for what tomorrow will look like. Faded marks catch your eye from where tasks used to be but then you realize something. The spaces that were meant to be open, have now been filled with something else. You're turning off the lights, walking to the door, and thinking to yourself, ‘Even though I got so much done today, I feel like I haven't put a dent in my to do list.”
As Jesus saw the multitudes, those who were sick, tired, and lost, He felt for them. He had been doing all this work and as He looked around, there were still so many more who needed help. Jesus was only one man. Despite all He could do, He was still just one person in physical form. Although it can take just one person to start something, the more people willing to support, the widen the impact can be. Jesus had been going around, speaking the gospel and healing those who were sick. You can imagine, Jesus being man, that He could become tired and need a moment to rest.
Our job as followers and disciples of Christ isn't to see someone who is going out, preaching the gospel, and think, "Well, someone else is already doing it. I don't have to." There are so many people who are sick, tired, or lost, wanting to be helped but there isn't anyone around. Many of those are people we work with, those in our family, parents from our child's sports team, or someone who we see at the store. People who are desperate for help, desperate for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and just need someone to share it with them.
We must pray for our brothers and sisters in the faith that they have the knowledge, wisdom, and confidence to go out and speak the gospel so that people can be healed; not physically but spiritually. The more people going out, the more lives which can be changed. They are ready and waiting. The harvest is ready.
Are you?