Scripture: Luke 10 v 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."
Jesus says the harvest is ready to be gathered in. The harvest is the souls of those ready to be saved. He has sent His angels to separate the chaff from the wheat. This work has speeded up in recent years as the season of apostasy takes hold.
Apostasy will cause the "falling away" spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2 which will cause the man of perdition, The Antichrist, to appear. It is already well advanced in many churches who 'go with the flow' and do not diligently check doctrines for truth and error.
2 Thessalonians 2 v 3 - 4: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
The chaff represents those who are "chaffing"! Its a slang word meaning 'pretending'. There are many who pretend to be Christians, who are wolves in sheep's clothing, who gain the trust and acceptance of the sheep just before they fleece them.
This fleecing is not beneficial to the sheep as it removes their anointed spiritual covering and lays them bare to the attack of the enemy. Jesus is calling on the labourers to come in and take care of the sheep, to build them up and teach them vigilance against Satan and his wolves.
Our job is first to pray for Him to send these workers, followed by giving them the right teachings to help the sheep focus on the truth. If we do not have the absolute truth well established in our hearts and minds we will stumble and cause others to fall into the same ditch. We have this window of opportunity to examine what we have learnt to ensure there are no holes through which the enemy can twist things his way.
The problem is that there are so few labourers to gather the lost souls in, and tend their wounds. The wolves have injured them with heresies and false doctrines to turn the sheep off the strait (strict) and narrow (moral integrity) path which leads to life. He has lured them onto the broad way (broadminded fun/entertainment/laughter/self esteem/proud/false experiences) that leads to destruction.
Wolves do not like to be accountable to the flock. They announce that they are God's anointed and that you may not question their actions. Jesus was not like that and there was no-one more anointed than He. Wolves single out the vulnerable and use them mercilessly to their own gain. In John 10 Jesus says that His sheep do not listen to the voice of strangers because they know His voice and follow His truth.
In Isaiah 55 v 8 - 11: " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
Let us realise that we cannot have higher thoughts than Almighty God. We do have rare glimpses of inspired thought and revelations which sustain us for years, but God has an intricate plan for each individual person that needs faith, truth, high standards and uncompromising commitment on our part, to put it all into action. Wherever we are on this path we need to keep moving forward.
We may not all be appointed as labourers in the Harvest, but we are all able to share our faith in Jesus with one person a day or once a week tell someone that Jesus loves them. The only thing you can take to Heaven are the souls you have rescued from the flames of Hell.
Hell is real and a place of terrible torment at the mercy of a hateful and cruel master Wolf. Would you want to know that your spouse or children are on their way to eternal damnation and do nothing to turn them onto the right path? Your friends or colleagues may seem to reject your testimony, but the Holy Spirit will use it to open their hearts to the truth. He will confirm it in the dark hours of the night, replaying your words until they grasp their significance.
So make a choice to be a labourer, a reaper of the harvest and allow the Lord to use you in His work. He needs those who can recognise the wolves and warn the sheep of their presence and the deadly poison in their bag of tricks.
Paul named and shamed the wolves he encountered and prayed for them to even be handed over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so that they could still have hope of salvation. 1 Corinthians 5 v 5; 1 Timothy 1 v 18 - 20.
What are the qualifications for labourers in the harvest of souls? They should be faithful believers in Jesus Christ, doing the will of God, through discernment and prayer. They must be apt to teach and share the gospel, willing to pray for healing of the sick and deliverance for those oppressed by demons. They should know the Bible and be able to share from it without twisting the word out of shape. They must love, pray and give out of grateful hearts.
Prayer: Heavenly Father the time of the great harvest is near and I ask to be part of Your team of workers to help in any way I can to keep everyone I know from eternal fire. Teach me to recognise the wolves in sheep's clothing that I may warn Your flock of danger. In Jesus' name. Amen.