In Luke 10, Jesus sends out His disciples to prepare the way before Him. He tells them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Today, may we be jointly yoked with Christ, laboring as sons and daughters in our Heavenly Fathers vineyard. Now, in mercy, Christ has redeemed us from the worthless way of life we had learned from our ancestors. He has atoned for our sin and purchased us with His own precious blood, employing us in a new ministry, the Ministry of Reconciliation. We have been made fishers of men, ambassadors of the Living God. God now makes His appeal for others to be reconciled to Him through Christ in us.
As we number our days, we remember Jesus’s words as recorded In Luke 15. Jesus tells us that there will be more rejoicing in heaven for one sinner that is lost that for ninety-nine righteous who need no repentance. Invest in the lives of the lost. Their reconciliation to God through Christ brings more rejoicing in heaven than any other worldly achievement we could take part in.
Commissioned in His name, our message is two-fold. First, we proclaim peace with God through Christ Jesus and His finished work on Calvary. Loving as He loves us, we bring good news of great joy to all peoples from every nation. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is hope in Christ for the sinner who repents. Second, still in love, we must warn of the horrible consequences and ultimate consequence of rejecting Jesus, the appointed Judge of the living and the dead.
As we go out, we do not go alone. We take on Jesus’s yoke, uniting us to His gospel and His Father’s will. We serve trusting in His faithfulness to keep all His promises, especially to save from sin and death. By taking on His yoke, we receive help from the Holy Spirit who helps us keep pressing onward with Him to the prize.
With every breath may we joyfully serve the Lord of the Harvest. No eye has seen or ear has heard, nor mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Today, choose to serve Christ in building an eternal kingdom that will not pass away. Let’s be yoked with Christ for joy in heaven.
In Christ,
—Roger Garrison
