10/10/2008

Luke 10:1-3 NIV
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-two
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.


In this Scripture Luke is telling us about the mission of the seventy-two and that the Lord sent them out two by two. If He sent two disciples together, Jesus knew they would be able to encourage each other. They were going as teams. It would also help the people to believe them since there would be two witnesses instead of just one. Jesus sent them out ahead of Him to every place He was going so that they could prepare the people. He wanted the disciples to let them know what He was about, spread His Name and the disciples would use their ministry gifts to prepare the way for Jesus. He is telling the disciples here that the harvest of souls is so great and so many people are ready to hear the Word but there are not enough willing to go out yet. I think it is important here that the first instruction was for them to pray - pray that many more will come and work on behalf of the Lord. This is exactly what we should be doing first. Praying for the souls to come in; pray for more workers to do His work. I can't stress enough how important prayer is and that we should be doing it continually; not only individually but also as a church - a corporate prayer. There is much work to be done to bring the Gospel to everyone. Imagine if everyone that is in the church would do their part, we would have a lot more workers than we do now and more people could be reached. We just need to get in our position and move.

Jesus is telling them they will encounter many people who will be mean, cruel and deceiving but they need to continue to be truthful and faithful. This would be a dangerous mission and there would be enemies. He is giving them instructions here and they are to be obedient and God will provide for them and protect them. They are to be totally dependent on God and not their own resources. It is so true today that the harvest is ripe and there are many people ready to hear the Word. So today I ask you to pray, get in your positions and move for the sake of the Gospel!