“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘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.’”
Matthew 9:37-38 NLT
When Jesus saw crowds like helpless sheep, His first concern was that the masses of sheep far outnumbered their shepherds! Jesus wasn’t simply calling preachers or missionaries as we so often assume. Jesus was calling workers for the sheep.
Workers in Jesus’ day were laborers who performed very hard, dull, manual labor—the kind of work shepherds did. Jesus knew crowds of sheep do not need preachers—they need shepherds who get their hands dirty, shepherds who lead the way to food, rest, and safety, shepherds who pour oil in festering wounds.
Long before Jesus spoke about sheep, God so loved those sheep that He sent His Son for them. That Good Shepherd didn’t come to preach at the sheep—He came to give His life for the sheep.
Crowds of lost sheep are wandering around in every corner of our world today. The only possible way they will receive the care they need is if each of us gives our life for the sheep in our corners. Shepherding them could be hard, dull labor. Shepherding could mean getting our hands dirty. But our Shepherd took way more than dirt into His hands!
My Shepherd gave His life for the sheep of the entire world—
Surely, I can give mine for the sheep who wander into my corner!
