SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE : THE HARVEST TRULY IS GREAT
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi
Luke 10:2 “Therefore said he unto them, The
harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord
of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” KJV
The word labourers is the Greek word ‘ergates’ which means, a toiler, a teacher.
It is seems quite illogical for God to ask the church to pray about the
salvation of souls. To the lay man, it creates the impression that He doesn’t really care about the salvation of
humanity, because if He did, we shouldn’t asked to pray for the salvation of souls. However,
when viewed in the context of the meaning of the word labour , we get a better
understanding of what He means by asking us to pray. The word pray is the Greek
word ‘deomai’ which means to beg as binding
oneself in a petition, make request. God wants us to make a commitment to be
teachers of His word and to encourage the work of sending teachers to the ends
of the earth to propagate the gospel of His saving grace. It is God’s will for all mankind to be saved
(1 Tim 2:4)
Jesus defined the work of God in
John 6:29 “This is the
work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." NKJV. Therefore, the
work of God involves teaching people so they may believe the word of God. Many
Christians have committed themselves to praying, fasting, entertainment,
building and benevolence; as much as these things are necessary they are no
substitute for the teaching of God’s word.
A society cannot experience the
healing power of God until the word of God is taught . It is the teaching of
God’s word that
generates the faith needed to receive a miracle from God. The more the word is taught,
the more miracles take place. The word of God is the seed that is sown to bring
about societal reformation. Most countries invest billions of dollars in the
fight against corruption and terrorism. These are products of religious
indoctrination and can only be corrected by a sustained teaching of the truth
of the gospel. Most of what is taught in our churches is nothing but religion
with emphasis on physical infrastructure and personal ego (Mk 13:1-2) while the
gospel emphasizes on training disciples (Mt 28:19). Proliferation of churches
will not bring about the desired change until the truth of the gospel is taught
(Rom 1:16). Religion is the creation of God in man’s image and promotes hatred, pride,
selfishness (Col2:19-23) and the ‘winner-takes-all’ mentality and lacks the power for self control. This
is evident in the fact that the highest level of corruption is recorded among
nations that claim to be religious. Religion thrives on the sale of various
paraphernalia of idol worship from wrist bands, amulets, to pictures of the
superintendent etc. These rituals deemphasize the need for Christian character
development needed to mold a healthy society and hinge the destiny of the
followers on the altar of their leader’s ego. This is the bane of the maladjustment
experienced in many a so-called religious community.
It is against the backdrop of
the outcry for a peaceful and secure society with equitable distribution of resources
that necessitates the need to request for teachers of God’s word. The teaching of God’s word generates character and
character begets hope and hope societal stability (Rom5:1-5). The Christian
life cannot be fulfilling until we share in this bigger picture of our
salvation. Salvation is not only about us. Jesus could not work miracles in His
own community until He went about teaching from village to village (Mark6:1-6)
a proof that it is in the teaching of the good news which says righteousness
isn’t by self-
effort but a gift to be received by faith through Christ Jesus that our full
potentials will be seen and God glorified by our testimonies. We are in the
dispensation spoken of by prophet Jeremiah in Jer 3:15 NKJV “And I will give you shepherds
according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Verse 16 says the teaching of God’s word will bring about the desired
increase or harvest we all yearn for.
Prayer/counseling
(call/text)+234 809 853 6911, (partnership) +234 803 553 6911
Email: michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment