GLOBAL SERVICE NETWORK STORIES

Why Be Involved in the Harvest – The Need

Do you think much about why you do the things you do? The way you answer that question has a lot to do with how God has wired you.   If you are like me, you only take the time to think about the whys of what you do when it comes to major decisions in life such as; faith, career, marriage, family and finances.

As an organization, we are motivated by the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:37-38, “Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

The intent of this blog post is to engage your thinking about why we (Global Service Network, You, and Me) should be involved in the spiritual harvest that Jesus refers to in the above passage from Matthew’s gospel. Although I am sure our list would be lengthy if we took the time to think exhaustively, however I am only going to focus on the need as a why.

Recently I received a phone call from my son who is a senior in college at a University just fifteen minutes from our home. The reason for the phone call was because he had a “need”, believe it or not it wasn’t for money. He had been asked to play goal keeper on an intermural soccer team. His goalie gloves were at home, he had no transportation, and the first game was that night. My sons need was insignificant, even so I felt compelled to act because of my love for him and the fact that he is a part of my family.

Matthew 9:36 describes the need of the people who had been coming to Jesus for healing in prior verses with these words, “… they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” The need of these people was no insignificant issue. They were in need of a relationship with the one true God, as well as true spiritual leadership to guide them as the current religious leaders were leading them away from the one relationship that could meet their need.

Of the just over 7 billion people in the world today, approximately 42.3% or 3 billion of them are in a similar position as those Jesus encountered; separated from God and in need of a spiritual leader to show them the way to be reconciled to God. 1 The significance of the need is heightened when you consider the eternal consequence of remaining separated from God.

Moved by compassion Jesus enlists his spiritual family to help meet the need. As members of God’s family, we are ask to not only pray for the needed laborers (Matthew 9:38) but to be one of those laborers. (Matthew 28:19).

As an organization we want to challenge you to be a part of the few who are impacting the lives of the many with the message of Christ resulting in an eternal difference in their lives.

  1. Source – http://joshuaproject.net/global_statistics