It is always the heartbeat of our LORD to win souls. At one time, our LORD deviated from His normal route to go to Samaria just to reach out to the people living there. Our Lord compares the gospel work to reaping in a harvest field.
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples,“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Matt 9:35-38)
On another occasion, this is what the LORD says about his purpose of work on earth in John 4:34-38 :
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Working in the harvest field is not easy. It is both physically tiring and back breaking. Yet, when the harvest is reaped, there is always a sense of accomplishment and rejoicing. In the same way, doing gospel work is not easy. In fact it is very tough and demanding. God will reward us abundantly because a soul of a man is of infinite worth.
The church building is a physical building. What makes the church alive is the people attending the church. When we look at the people around us, we know that many will perish in eternal hell without Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Yet our Lord says that the labourers are very few. We pray that our Lord will move many hearts to go and win souls for our Lord in the new harvest field. I am heartened by the almost unanimous decision to make the move to the new gospel outreach. May we pray fervently that God will use us as His vessels to be His labourers working in the new harvest field. My heart is heartened by the sacrificial giving and lending financially towards the purchase and building of God’s house in the new outreach location. May God bless each and every cheerful giver. It is a good exercise of our faith in giving. At the same time, we know that God owns the cattles of a thousand hills. God does not need our finances. This opportunity also allows us to exercise faith. We cannot out-give God and God is no debtor. Whatever you give to God, God will multiply ten or a hundred fold. It is not the amount that we give but the amount that we give from our heart. I am reminded of the poor widow who gives two mites as compared to the rich who seem to give much more. Instead, our Lord says the widow has given much more compared to the rich who seem to have given more, but only in absolute terms, than the widow.
May we co-labour with our Almighty God as we embark on this exciting journey of reaching out to the lost in the north-west part of Singapore.