Topic: Sending our Best for the Harvest

Text: “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34)

 

I recall having a discussion with an elderly man that I saw on his farm. He was harvesting his yams while two of his grandchildren who accompanied him to the farm were standing and watching him remove the tubers. I asked him why he would not sit back and allow the young teenage boys do the harvesting. His response got me thinking: “This is the expectation of many months. It needs to be done diligently and with experience. It is not a task just for anybody”, he said.

As we reflect on the text for this year’s month of missions, what caught my attention was the disclosure by Jesus that he was sent to finish “His (God’s) work”. In other words, when God was to conclude the labours of redeeming man, He did not send just anybody. I imagine the host of angels in heaven and perhaps other heavenly beings; God did not consider anyone else to be saddled with this task except the Lord Jesus. He was heaven’s best and God found it very convenient to send His best. Imagine a heaven “without” Jesus. God wasn’t bothered about heaven “losing” him to the earth. There is an expectation on earth and only the best could get it done.

There is a huge lesson here for the contemporary Church. If we must finish this task, we must identify and be very willing to commit our best to reaping the remaining harvest. The commitment and consecration of missionary sending has been to send the best. The nature of the remaining harvest keeps changing. They (the harvest) are now scattered across the globe. They are not necessarily the uneducated restrained to remote villages. Many of the unreached are now found in corporate offices. They are in the parliament. They are scattered in the market places. They are prominent in the sports world as well as in the academic. They are not dull nor naive. They are very sophisticated. Billions of them “live” on the internet. To successfully reach them, we must release the Church’s best. We should not keep them warming the benches on Sundays and during mid-week services. They should be released. Imagine the Church in Antioch sending forth Paul and Barnabas in obedience to the demand of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-2).

Where are our own Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Philip, Stephen etc? We have withheld the warriors to the pews and sent the weaklings to the battle field. We consider it “promotion” to retain the men of valour in safe abode while deploying the weaklings to the battle fronts. The enemy we confront understands the battle at hand. God sent His best and so must we! The earnest expectation of all creation in a time as this is the extension of the blessings of redemption to the ends of the earth. This is no rehearsal or friendlies. We must get our best enlisted.

Reflection for Action

– As a Church Pastor or Ministry Leader, who is that potential best that has been kept on the bench? What is the Lord saying to you today?

– Are you the best that God is looking for or has been asking to be sent?

We will be happy to guide you in making the decision that will profit God and His kingdom. Talk to us today! Check the cover pages of this devotional for contacts you may speak with.

Prayer:

• Lord, help us to develop a heart for the harvest like yours.
• Make our hearts willing to release our best for the reaping of the remaining harvest.
• Help us yield in obedience as you lay demand on us to be sent.

Dr. Adeoluwa F. Olanrewaju

Director Finance and Admin., NEMA