I want to be a farmer this summer: I want to get dirty in the fields. I want to work so hard that by the end of the day I end up filthy and too tired to move. I am reminded of two passages of Scripture that points us to the fields.
Luke 10:2 – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Luke 9:62 – “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus wants us to be farmers for the Kingdom. In these verses He is talking about using a plow to till a field to plant well, plant wisely, and plant precisely. The goal of the farmer is to make straight rows in the plot of earth he is responsible for. He does this by looking at a distant object. Jesus creates a picture of a farmer who, rather than looking straight ahead at a distant object to mark his course, is constantly looking backwards at what he has already accomplished. If we a continuously looking back at things or our past, our plows are going to create crooked and curved rows. The lines will not be straight. Perhaps with this illustration in mind, the Apostle Paul said, “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
It is so easy to let the things of this world get and keep our attention. I am too easily distracted by the “urgent things” of this life, my physical comforts, and my material desires. When my physical, emotional and material desires take over my life that is when my rows start to curve. It leaves me with a disappointing feeling, “Is this all life has to offer?” I am more fulfilled and alive when plowing my fields for higher purposes.
Before planning this trip, people would come up to me with worried expressions in their eyes and say with great concern, “MORIAH AREN’T YOU SCARED HOW DANGEROUS LIFE IN AFRICA WILL BE?!” To be honest, I am so much more afraid of living a comfortable life in self-service and failing to follow Jesus than I am of any kind illness or tragedy. Mathew 10:28 “tells us not to fear things that can destroy the body, but things that can destroy the soul.” Jesus called His followers to do a lot of things, but I have yet to find where he encourages them to be safe and comfortable. We are not called to a life of comfortability. We are simply promised that when we are in danger, God is right there next to us! Jesus did, however, call us to “Go,” “to be strong courageous,” “to speak justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,” and to “not fear.” This summer is going to be draining in every aspect of the word, but what will keep me going is the urgent, loud whisper of God – “GO!”
Luke 10:3 “GO! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
Mark 16:15 “GO into all of the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Matthew 28:19 “GO make disciples of all nations…”
Psalm 143:8 “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should GO, for to you I lift up my soul.”
As Christ’s ambassadors we are not only called but are commanded to GO! And it is in going that we can be a light in a dark place and that our good works can be seen not to glorify ourselves but point to the One who sent us.
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
As we have been made aware, there is abject poverty in the countries I will be visiting. I am reminded by the lesson I had heard years ago that when serving in a third world country it feels like you are emptying the ocean with an eyedropper. But that’s okay, because you are not the one that can change the world. Jesus is. You can however, change the world for an orphaned child and widowed mother by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Love is the ultimate reason we just keep filling up our little eyedropper in the ocean of God’s love to let it go one drop at a time into the chaos we encounter. We are not here to eliminate poverty, to eradicate disease, or put a stop to world hunger. We are here, commanded to GO, and spread the love of Jesus. This reminds me of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:14 “For Christ’s love compels us…. So that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of those who bring good news, (by going) who proclaim peace (by going), who bring good tidings, (by going) who proclaim salvation (by going), who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
I must remember, too, that love is not bound by language. We can speak the language of love through our eyes, through our smile, through our gentle spirit and through our kind deeds.
Philippians 2:1-4“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (That is because love does not seek its own way or advantage.)
My mission to GO is so that I may LOVE.
