Resurrection Tapestry, Vatican Museum, taken by Martha Wiggins 2012
“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.” Matthew 10:1
Bringing souls to Christ can sometimes be exhausting work. Often, and as it should be, the souls harvested are done so without any knowledge of the efforts, prayers, and sacrifices made on their behalf. In a way that is easier on the harvester, for he does not have to worry about ego. The souls harvested who are aware of those efforts bring attention to the harvester. That sometimes makes it difficult to fight off the pride resulting from such attention.
It can also be hard when the harvester works in the same field alongside other harversers and sees the results of other harvester’s work. This too can cause the harvester to wrestle with ego. He might wonder if his own work is not good enough, or why he didn’t have the same or as many results. He may become envious of the other harvester.
When the harvester lets ego get in the middle of the work, he begins to lose the proper perspective necessary to harvest the souls. He begins to think it is his own efforts, his own deeds that bring about results. He forgets for Whom he works. When this happens, even though he may be harvesting a great number of souls for Christ, he does so at his own soul’s peril.
While the ultimate goal of the harvester is to gain souls for Christ, his own soul must be won too. He must look within, see Christ therein, and then thwart self at every turn. That work can be just as exhausting. As a harvester, he knows what is right and good for other souls, but must go to the master harvester to seek what is right and good for his own. A tired harvester must seek out wisdom in God’s Word. It is there he will find much to learn from the the original harvesters, the chosen twelve. It is in God’s Word the harvester will see once again whose work he is about, who bestows the talents needed, and who sows the seeds to be reaped in the harvest.
In Matthew above, it is good to note that Jesus chose twelve disciples. Not one, but twelve. In his infinite wisdom, He knew that one disciple could not accomplish all that must be accomplished. He knew that different harvesters have different talents that attract the right souls to them. Every harvester must realize this so as not be envious of another’s talents or another’s harvest.
The original twelve disciples passed on their commission to harvest souls to many chosen from the harvested. If you are one who works in the field of harvesting souls, let not your own soul grow weary. Know that you too have been chosen and given special talents to share God’s Word. Fight off ego, pride, and vanity, knowing that the rewards here on earth are the harvest itself, and the rewards in eternity will be even greater where all the harvesters and harvested shall live forever!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012-2014 
