A Vessel for The Harvest

Luke 10:2
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

HARVEST means to “gather” + “collect”
The message being conveyed in the word is that there are many to be gathered. Who are the many? They are lost souls; people who haven’t heard or seen the goodness of God. Those who don’t know the truth of the gospel. Jesus then says, “the workers are few.”

Who are the workers He speaks of and why are they few?
The few that Jesus refers to are willing vessels. In Matthew 4:18-22, we are shown the cost of working towards the harvest. Jesus calls the disciples away from things that are the very root of their comfortable lives. Reflecting that to us in this modern world, we’re so comfortable where we are and would rather sit within that comfortability because it’s “safe.” We aren’t ready to release all control to God; therefore, we cannot be vessels for him.

a VESSEL is something that holds or carries – a repository; where things can be stored

Diving deeper into Matthew 4:18-22:
(v. 18-20) As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

(v. 21-22) Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

In order to understand the depths of this passage, you must read beyond the words on the page. When we look at the lives of the soon-to-be disciples of Jesus, the bible is very specific on the things they walked away from to follow Jesus. Being fishermen was their whole life. It was a part of their everyday routine and it was ingrained in who they were as people. Then we have James and John were not only called away from their boat but their father as well.

Context:
Their identities were tied to their title of being fishermen. The boat represents what enabled their source of income; they can’t be fishermen without a boat. Their father represents a significant relationship.

Jesus wanted them to come on a journey with him, but they had to leave things behind. Walking through life, Jesus is waiting for us to say yes to the journey he wants to take us on and follow his guidance while working towards the harvest, but we must be willing to let go of certain things.

Questions to think about:
What’s the boat that God is asking you to leave behind to follow him?

What significant relationships is God asking you to put aside?

The truth is that there are certain things that you must let go of in order to walk into what God has for you. When we release these things, we can then have the space in our lives to become that vessel that God will use for the harvest. He says, “come and follow me…...and I will send you out to fish for people.” Speaking from experience, surrendering all I thought I knew and asking God to take his place in my life was the best thing I ever did. It is more of a blessing to give than it is to receive. What call is God waiting on you to answer?