Sunday, February 5, 2017

Labor Shortage

Labor Shortage
February 3, 2017
Luke 10:2 "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few."

Scripture says that the harvest is truly full and ready but the laborers are few. What is the harvest? The harvest is referring to those who have not yet come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. The harvest is referring to those that maybe within the walls of the church, but not fully committed to the Lord or maybe have not acknowledged Him as Savior still.  The harvest is referring to those that have now accepted Him as Savior but who are still hurting and need the commitment of others to help keep that harvest secure.  But the Bible says there is a shortage of workers to bring in that harvest. The Bible says there is a shortage of workers because the Bible is wrong.  Before you suggest heresy for a moment, understand what scripture is referencing.  Scripture is talking about the salvation of souls in comparison to a farmer's field.  A farmer couldn't do it all alone back then.  They didn't have fancy machinery to help bring in the harvest.  Back then, it was all done by manual, back breaking labor.

The Bible says we are short on those back breaking laborers to help the farmer bring in the crop.  Here is how the Bible is wrong.  The Bible, in the analogy, fell short of explaining the difference between workers and volunteers.  When a farmer is bringing in his crops, he hires workers who agree to work for a wage in exchange for their labor.  The Bible, or God, never specifies or guarantees your wages if you are willing to work for Him. In essence, He is asking for volunteers.  No farmer could expect to bring his harvest in on time if he had to depend on volunteers. The Bible should have said the harvest is plenty but the volunteers are few.  No one wants to volunteer for a back breaking job.  Sure, there are plenty of casual, one-time commitment, Sunday workers in the church, but few are willing to break their backs for the church. They exchange their casual labor when it isn't difficult.  God doesn't talk a whole lot about recruiting volunteers, but essentially that is what He is asking for, someone to sacrifice his hard-efforts in exchange for nothing in return, a volunteer who is willing to work like a laborer.

Now hold up.  Does God actually never promise wages for your efforts?  He promises rewards in Heaven. He promises acknowledgment for your efforts and commitments for Him, once you get to Heaven. But He never promises wages on earth.  If you keep with the analogy, without taking it too far, the harvest represents all the work to be done on earth before Heaven. The farmer pays the laborers AFTER the harvest.  So, in essence, the Lord promises rewards for the volunteers, once the volunteers make it to Heaven.  This is kind of a crummy deal if you are looking for money here on earth.  But if you're Heavenly minded, the Scripture didn't lie.  You will get paid. But, unlike the farmers workers who can quit if they don't like the wage scale, you don't get to negotiate or decide your wage.

Christians far too often forget they are working for the Lord when they do anything for Him.  They quit their efforts because things are hard and there appears to be no compensation in this life coming for their hard work. That's when you have to keep pressing on, believing He will make good on His promise, His deal to reward His laborers. You've felt this way, like your work is not worth it anymore. If you've felt this way, you've forgotten who you are working for. It is easy to feel frustrated if you think you are working for a human but you cannot look at man while you are working for the benefit of that man.  You are working for the benefit of the Father in Heaven who will repay all those who worked for Him. He will also repay those who refused to work for Him.  Did you ever think of that?  Did you ever consider He might allow you in to Heaven, but withhold your reward because you didn't actually work for it? You don't get rewarded for doing nothing.  Read your Scripture like this: there is plenty of work to do but few who are willing to do the work.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  1 Sam 26:23, Jer 17:10, Matt 25:21, Rom 2:6, Eph 6:8, 1 Cor 15:58

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