Friday, July 19, 2024
The Time Is Short
These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Luke 10:2 NLT)
Esther was a beautiful young woman who essentially won a beauty contest and became the queen over the kingdom. She also was Jewish. Then a very wicked official named Haman developed a plot to exterminate all the Jewish people in the kingdom. And through a series of treacherous moves, he laid a trap for the Jews, who would be systematically executed.
Esther’s cousin Mordecai also was a Jew, and he knew that she could do something to help her people. All she had to do was go and appeal to the king. But Esther was safe and secure there in the palace. Everything was going okay for her, and she was reluctant to approach the king.
But Mordecai sent Esther this message: “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NLT).
Esther recognized what she needed to do. She appealed to the king, averted the plot, and the Jews were saved. She seized the moment.
Sin isn’t simply doing what is wrong; sin also can be neglecting to do what is right. We can fail God in what He wants to do and miss out on His blessings as a result.
Jesus said, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Luke 10:2 NLT). Notice Jesus didn’t say that we need to pray for more observers or more spectators or more complainers. He said that we need to pray that the Lord would “send more workers.”
God can do a lot with a little. He multiplied a boy’s lunch of five loaves and two fish and fed thousands. And He can take what we have and multiply it. He can give us gifts and abilities that we’ve never had before if we simply will say, “Lord, it’s not much, but it’s Yours. I give it to You. Take it over. Here I am, Lord, send me.”
Will you make yourself available to God? Will you say, “Lord, I will labor in Your field”? No matter how much money you make or what career you follow or whether you’re married or single, will you commit to never stop being available to God as a laborer in His field?
Who knows whether God has not put you where you are, at this moment, for such a time as this?
This world is getting darker. The only hope for our country is a spiritual awakening. We have to get the gospel out. We have to redouble our efforts as never before, because time is short. The devil knows this. And certainly, he is redoubling his efforts. He’s trying to drag as many people down as he possibly can.
We need to go out and make a difference while we can.
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