Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Jesus Christ – Icon of Ordained Ministry 

Bible Reading:   St. Matthew 9:35-37

Key verse:    The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few    ( St. Matt 9.37)

DEVOTION

We focus on today’s devotional from the Gospel of St. Matthew 9:35-37. We see Jesus at the  pinnacle of His Ministry on earth. Jesus is passing through all the towns and villages , teaching in the respective synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and healing every diseases and sickness.  Jesus certainly  knows that His time on earth is limited and Jesus is drawing towards the end of the ministry. Jesus has commissioned the twelve disciples and empowered them to assist in the task of bringing more and more people to experience the joy of salvation. Jesus is, however  moved with compassion and perhaps hurt,  when Jesus saw a crowd of people still desperately seeking God but there was no one to reach out to them and bring them to God. The people were coming as large crowds to hear Jesus but there was just not enough helpers to assist in helping Jesus in His ministry on Earth.  
Jesus compared the large crowds that gathered in large numbers and filled every vacant spaces to hear Jesus as ‘ sheep without shepherd’. That was rudimentary problem that need an extra ordinary solution . Jesus then summed what I have leveraged as the key verse for today and that is the ‘ harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ‘ . Today in our society that is hurting where people have shunned the gospel and teaching of Christ and ran after all the pleasures of the world, contrary to the teaching of Christ.  We see youths and young adults show no interest in the Gospel message or all the values that is important for Christian living in the world today. We see lot of people fall addicted to drugs and alcohol ,  ruining their precious lives and ending up dying or  jeopardizing their lives by reckless living.  These people need,  not only the love of Christ but more than that, the message of salvation that can redeem their lives from death and destruction.  These hurting people are the ones that Jesus would have targeted to bring to the kingdom of God. The challenge we face , is that ,  there is not enough resources  or workers in the kingdom of God that bring these hurting people to know God and help them lead a lives that is pleasing before God. 
The call goes out to each of us today , reading this message , are we willing to sacrifice our time to be those workers , that are  willing to work in the harvest field and bring those helpless people to the kingdom of God. We may not all have the true calling of Dr. Billy Graham to conduct crusades  all over the  world . However each of us can in our little spaces,   be that worker that is reaching out to one other person and helping them draw one step closer to the Kingdom of God.  The mission field is not just way out there in India or other parts of the third world, its right here in the communities we live , in the neighborhood , in our churches and perhaps in our homes it self. Let us pray that God instills courage in each of us,  to hear the clarion call to be that worker that is send out to proclaim the good news and bring people to the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Let us do what we can in our little capacity and as we read in the Parable of Sower ( St. Matthew 13 :23) where it produced forth fruit thirty fold, sixty fold and hundred fold  . May we be the people that can produce such large bountiful fruits for the kingdom of God. 

PRAYER


Almighty and Gracious Lord , enable us to be those workers that are going out to fields full of harvest, to bring those hurting people to the loving knowledge of Lord Jesus Christ  , in  Jesus Name we pray , Amen. 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY


“ The Great Commission is not option to be considered, it is command to be obeyed “  – Hudson Taylor.



Abraham Kurien, Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Houston, Texas.

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