Ripe

One of the most amazing aspects of Jesus' life and ministry is how He saw crowds. We tend to see masses of people, lumping them into categories, and gazing over the tops of their heads. But whenever Jesus saw crowds, He looked into the soul of each person. They were precious to Him, image bearers, His special creation. His mission was gloriously simple, to proclaim the Kingdom and change their lives. Yet, He did not do this alone. Jesus formed the first Community Group, a band of twelve guys who learned from Him and lived on mission with Him. His invitation to them was to lift their eyes so that they, too, would see crowds of people through His eyes, and notice that the fields were ripe. And then pray for the harvest, that God would raise up people to reach each and every one of them with the message of the Kingdom. This is also our invitation: to look on the harvest and notice that it is plentiful. And then to pray to the Lord of the Harvest.