Thursday

Related Verses
Matt. 9:37-38
37 Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is great, but the workers few;
38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest.

Matt. 20:1-2
1 For the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, who is a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire workmen for his vineyard.
2 And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Matt. 25:24-30
24 Then he who had received the one talent also came and said, Master, I knew about you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow.
25 And I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the earth; behold, you have what is yours.
26 And his master answered and said to him, Evil and slothful slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not winnow.
27 Therefore you should have deposited my money with the money changers; and when I came, I would have recovered what is mine with interest.
28 Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
29 For to every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall abound; but from him who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away from him.
30 And cast out the useless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Related Reading
Reaping a Harvest
“The harvest is great, but the workers few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38).

On the one hand, preaching the gospel is a sowing, but on the other hand, it is a reaping of the harvest. Sowing emphasizes preaching the gospel. Reaping emphasizes gathering in people’s souls. Gathering in people’s souls is like reaping grain and bringing it into a storehouse. Those whom the Lord wants to save are the harvest He wants to reap. Our preaching of the gospel is for harvesting these people. Thus, reaping a harvest is another expression for preaching the gospel.

In these verses the Lord spoke of the harvest being great, but the workers who preach the gospel to reap the harvest being few. Therefore, we should beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest. If the harvest was great when the Lord spoke this word, the harvest must be even greater now. Therefore, we must beseech the Lord even more to thrust out workers into His harvest. If we want to reap the Lord’s harvest, we must preach the Lord’s gospel. Reaping a harvest requires the preaching of the gospel.

“Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are already white for harvest…One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored” (John 4:35, 37-38).

According to the Lord, the fields are white for harvest. Brothers and sisters, if the fields were white when the Lord spoke these words, they are even whiter today. Speaking only of the Chinese people, there are many whose hearts are ripe for harvesting. But who is willing to go?

When we preach the gospel, we will harvest what has already been sown. According to the Lord’s word, we should expect to reap where we have not labored. The seeds of the gospel have been sown on the earth by the church for two thousand years. Even in China many seeds have been sown over the last few centuries. Therefore, the harvest truly is ripe and waiting for us to reap. By the Lord’s mercy, may we lift up our eyes and look on the fields, and by the Lord’s grace, may we receive His sending to go and reap this ripened harvest (Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, vol. 3, ch. 28, pp. 503-504).