April 6, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“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.‘”

(Matthew 9.37-38)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I have to follow up yesterday’s Easter Call to fulfill the Great Commission with what is an obvious reminder of the call of Isaiah (Isaiah chapter 6) to fulfill his prophetic ministry. The Old Testament is the foreshadowing of the New Testament. This means that as God revealed Himself to the descendants of Adam and Eve, He had in mind the inevitable culmination of that revelation made known in the New Testament. We know this from the very moment God spoke His word of accountability to Adam, Eve, “the Serpent” and to the offspring of Adam and Eve (who was and is and is yet to come.) It was in the days following King Uzziah’s death bringing his reign on earth to an end that Isaiah as the appointed priest of the day and week entered into the Holy of Holies and knelt behind the veil. It was there that Isaiah in grief was found in that sacred temple “upper room” by God in a most unexpected way. No where else do we hear of what a priest experienced upon their visits. Perhaps not since Moses had anyone actually experienced such a thing. Isaiah’s response to God was as expected. He was humbled and buried his face for none had seen the face of God and lived. He declared himself unclean and unworthy to be found in such a time and place as that. Even his own words felt profane as he declared “Woe, I am a man of unclean lips who dwells in the midst of a people who also have unclean lips.” Such words did not limit the understanding of unclean to his lips but extended to his heart reaching to the very depths of his soul. It was not just addressing words that could not express the moment nor represent the glory of God with any satisfaction. Isaiah spoke of the spiritual condition of himself and all Israel in the presence of the visible and tangible living God. No matter how worthy he felt going into that “upper room,” he soon realized he was not measuring up to what was being shown. Still, God was there with a purpose in mind and Isaiah was the one God had made for the moment. He would ask, “I have a task that needs to be done, a message to be delivered to the people. Who will go for us?” Of course, Isaiah tried to say “no,” but God purged his lips and made them sanctified and prepared for the task. He had no more excuses. Just as God told Moses, Aaron could speak for him if he didn’t feel qualified but he was to take the lead.

There is this same type of feeling we should get when we hear Jesus telling the disciples that there was plenty of work to be done, a great harvest of souls to be gleaned from the field of life and the current short supply of those to do the work. The disciples were being trained to do this work. Peter, Andrew, James and John were to be “fishers of men.” Andrew and Phillip were seers and seekers with open eyes to show others what could be seen. Matthew, once a hated and despised tax collector and collaborator with the Romans, joined in the ministry of recovering others like him who were on the outside of Jewish magistrated law and spiritual opinion to be called “outcasts.” Even Judas of Kerioth’s story whose beginning we do not know fully and whose ending is tragedy exponentially, was given the same truth about who they were intended to be. In truth, Judas did fulfill that “gospel” mandate of telling others. Without his action, the story would have played out a different way but with the same necessary outcome. Hear the words of Jesus in the “parable” saying He offers. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” Jesus is saying this not to empower the disciples to ask God to send some people out to gather in the spiritual harvest. It was a self-convicting and self-volunteering word Jesus said to all believers. Isaiah responded to God’s query with “Here I AM, send me!” It is too easy to read it “Here I am, send me.” It is more than a willingness to volunteer (and not many disciples through the ages want to do that because of the risk of standing on the forefront in the field of battle against Satan). No, it is a response of a true connection to the ONE who is doing the calling. God’s revealed name to Moses at Sinai from the burning bush was and is and will always be YHWH, I AM. Isaiah declares to God as getting his divine attention and being specifically obedient, to say “Here, YHWH, send me!” He rises up and addresses God directly like he was waving his hand saying “pick me, pick me.” So, it sounds like the same for the disciples. Who else would do it but those who loved Jesus and had been with Him for three years. Jesus said, “Ask God to send someone.” He meant, “Tell God, I am ready.” This is how we should be in our own discipleship. Ready to go into the fields, planting seeds, cultivating the crops and reaping a harvest for the Kingdom of God.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.