Chapter 9 ended with Jesus calling the disciples to PRAY for spiritual workers go into the harvest field. As a farm boy from Iowa, when it was harvest time, the Lord had provided and it was now our job to go out and get it! Now, don’t get me wrong, farming is hard work, but the reward of the harvest was always exciting. What a great picture! There are people out there waiting to hear the good news of Jesus, waiting to believe, and it’s our job to tell them! Yes, it is work, but there is no greater harvest!!!!!!!!!
These very ones who were praying for workers, now became those workers! They were moving from disciples (learners) to apostles (sent ones) - a continual process. This process of getting saved and following Jesus was sort of an “internship with the Master” – observing His desire to Know His Father and Make Him Known - Wow – this is good stuff!
So Jesus lists His 12 disciples. These guys were unschooled, ordinary men who got 3 years to personally hang out with God! It’s most likely that all but Peter were teenagers. So here you have it – it’s the first youth ministry!!! Jesus was the leader, Peter the volunteer and one really bad student – Hahahahaha! Anyway, these were the Master’s men who first carried the Good News of Jesus to their generation!
God used 11 of them to change the world. And the other disciple, Judas, the betrayer, reminds us of lost opportunity and wasted privilege.
So he called them (1-5), then told them what to do (5-16), then warned them (17-31) and explained again the high cost of following Him (32-42). This verse stands out most to me: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The life of a believer is totally meant to be a life of selflessness!
SO WHAT?!
*What do you & I pray about most? What do we beg God for? With Jesus, it was his concern for the lost. So much so that he called others to follow Him so He could make them “fishers of men.” Been “fishin’” lately? Lord help us to be fishers of men!
*Ever feel unqualified or that you don’t have what it takes to live for Jesus? Then, depending on how you look at it, you’re either in good company or bad company because this is exactly how the disciples felt! God is never looking for our abilities but He does want our availability! Be available to be used by God and watch Him do great things to you and through you!!!
*Finally, these 12 disciples spent 3 years of intimacy with God and they were never the same. How long have you been a believer? 3 years? 10 years? 35 years? The measure of a man’s life is not in duration but donation! We can be a believer for years and never participate in the harvest. Take some time today and ask God to search your heart, renew a right Spirit in you and then let’s be fishin’!
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