Luke 10:1-3

Luke 10:1-3

After these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others and He sent them ahead of Himself, two by two, into all the cities and places where He was not about to come.  And He was saying to them, “On one hand, the harvest is great.  But on the other hand the workers are few.  Therefore, inquire of the Lord of the harvest how He should cast workers out into His harvest.  Go!  See!  I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The harvest is great.  In other words, there are plenty of people who can come to know God.  There are plenty of people who are in the world and of the world.  There are plenty of people who are even willing to hear about God. But, the laborers are few.  There are fewer people who are capable of genuinely talking about their faith than there are people willing to listen.  It’s just a reality.  Even among Christians there are fewer people willing to talk about their faith than there are people who profess to have faith.

Are you willing to talk about your faith?  When do you hesitate?  When are you bold?

Second Thought:

I have never really studied the second half of Luke 10:2 before.  I’ve always been taught that this verse is Jesus telling us to pray that God sends out harvesters.  That’s always sat wrong with me, and I’ve never figured out why.  First of all, the word here in the Greek is dethete (δεήθητε), which means “to ask” or to “inquire” rather than “to pray.”  Second, we hear that Jesus has the word “how” in this sentence.  We aren’t to beg God to send out harvesters, of course God will do that!  Rather, we are to humble ourselves before God and ask how the harvesters are going to be sent out.  This is a verse about submission before the Father.

How has God sent you out?  How have you submitted to God in order to listen?

Third Thought:

Verse three has always haunted me.  Who likes to think of themselves ad lambs in the middle of wolves?  But it is absolutely true.  Jesus wants us to go out with a sacrificial mindset, crucifying ourselves so that we can do the work of God in a world that rejects Him.  Of course people will take advantage of us.  Of course people will abuse us and reject us.  They did it to Christ, why should we expect any different treatment?  However, what I think haunts me even more is that Christ knows this ahead of time and still sends us.  He knows we will be rejected and mistreated yet He still sends us.  Again, this is not surprising.  He came to this earth knowing what was to happen.  We are just imitating Him and His life.  Yet it is still haunting to know and follow anyways.

Where have you been rejected for your faith?  When have you been rejected, knew about it beforehand, and still followed God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 10:4-7