When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38)

Matthew records our Lord’s command that His disciples pray earnestly for more laborers to go into the harvest. He writes this just after speaking of the Lord’s compassion for the crowd that surrounded Him.

These verses appear together because we are meant to see a connection between compassion for those that need a shepherd (unbelievers) and earnest prayer for more laborers to proclaim the Gospel. Thus, if you pray little for more laborers, it may be because you lack compassion for the lost. The same would apply to those who do pray, but there is no earnestness to the prayer. If one prays weak prayers out of mere duty, he may want to examine his level of compassion toward unbelievers.

In light of these verses, we ought to obey our Lord and pray earnestly for more laborers. And if you find yourself unable to pray earnestly but only to pray in weakness and out of duty, I encourage you to confess your lack of compassion for the lost. I urge you to pray that God would change your heart toward unbelievers, to the end that you might have compassion on their souls. We should ask this because we know that such compassion makes us more like our Savior, enables us to be obedient in prayer that is earnest, and in hope that the Lord may make of us compassionate laborers in the harvest. May the Lord so move in us for His glory!

This post is the first in a three-part series on the subject of motives. Simply put, God not only cares what you do, He also cares why you do it. This truth challenges many who have come to assume that being a Christian is largely about doing what God says, and not so much about why you do what God says. The Bible makes it clear: why you do something is very important. This is seen in our text which teaches that you can do the “right” thing for the wrong reason, with the result that you fail to please God

Let’s look at the text. The series will look at Matthew 6:1-18. The basic idea behind the section is contained in verse 1:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

We are to avoid doing something “in order to be seen by” men. If your reason for doing something ostensibly good is so that others will notice that you did the good thing, then it is not pleasing to God.

Jesus’ first example is giving to the needy (6:2-4). Jesus assumes His disciples will do this because He says “when you give to the needy.” This seems straightforward enough. How could somebody mess this up? They could mess it up by doing it in such a way so as to ensure that others notice the act, in order that others may praise them for it.

In contrast, a disciple should not insist on the act being publicly noticed. He should do act so that no one notices, knowing that God sees all things. There is no lack of noticing on God’s part. He sees all you do, the righteousness and the unrighteousness. He will reward those who obey Him while paying no attention to whether any other creature notices.

God means for us to obey Him because we love Him. He means for us to serve Him and seek His glory, while avoiding supplementing the reward of God with the accolades of men. Doing an act to be seen by men belittles the reward of God and lies about its worth. It announces that God’s reward is good, but God’s reward and man’s approval together are better. This teaching reminds us that our contentment is to be found in God alone. It also warns us to be on guard against bad motives. Such a text should send us to our knees to ask that God would grant us such a love for Him, that our motives would be set aright, and that our service to Him will have pleasing Him alone in mind, while we care not for the attention of men.

Many today are looking for something to get excited about. This is true for the world in general, but is also true for those in the church. People are eager for the newest angle on God, or some incredible insight that revolutionizes their lives and gives their spiritual life that boost that they feel is needed. The problem with the new is that it is often unbiblical. More importantly, it assumes that the old is not of significant value. The truth is that instead of the new, most of us stand in need of thoughtfully considering the old.

Today, I want you to consider one of the oldest truths of the Bible: God made everything. Many of you may be thinking that this is a difficult doctrine to get excited about. But I want you to understand that though you may really not be excited about it, you should be.  Consider the book of Revelation. In Revelation 4, John is granted to peer into the throne room of God and see what is going on. John records this astounding reality:

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Image that. Thousands of years after creation, after God has worked powerfully and faithfully in His dealings with Israel, and even after Jesus Christ has been born, lived, died, resurrected and ascended (after Jesus has completed the work of Redemption!),  John sees God being worshipped for creation. The doctrine of creation still gets the worshippers in heaven excited. They are busy worshipping and casting their crowns before Him, proclaiming His worth on the basis of the ancient doctrine of creation.

The takeaway from this is simple: it is not that we need new doctrines or fresh insights to lead us to worship; what we most need is to truly understand those doctrines that have not yet fully taken hold of us. We need the old and familiar doctrines to take hold of us so that we respond as created beings should respond to these amazing realities. We need them to lead us to worship.

I urge you today to consider the doctrine of creation. Then to pray that God would cause you to be amazed at this reality and confess you sin of treating it as an insignificant thing that you take for granted. Beg that God would cause this doctrine to be understood in all its wonder so that you respond in proportion to the greatness of the One to whom the doctrine points; that you would be led to spontaneously worship this great God (as the elders “never cease to” do – Rev. 4:8).

Pray that you would look for no new doctrine, but confess your need of God to help you understand and respond to the old doctrines as He created you to respond. Pray that the truth of God revealed in the Bible will lead you to worship.

Addendum – Here are a few other texts in which God is worshipped for creating and presently ruling over creation:

• Revelation 14:7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.
• Psalm 33:9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm
• Psalm 119:90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. ⁹¹ By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants
• Psalm 74:16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. ¹⁷ You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter

Psalm 92:1-4

¹ It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;     ² to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, ³ to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. ⁴ For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Some thoughts on this passage:

Give thanks to God – We should thank God on whom we depend. We depend on Him for all things, here are but a few: life, breath, physical and mental abilities, and most importantly salvation.

Sing His praises – The greatness of God is higher than that of any other being. Of all beings, He is most deserving of songs of praise. Such songs should flow naturally from a heart that loves Him, rather than out of a sense of duty. Consider the greatness of God, pray that God would cause you to understand His greatness more, and pray that God would so convince you of His greatness that you are led to spontaneously sing His praises.

Declare God’s Steadfast Love – One only has to think for a few seconds to consider many reasons why God ought to set us aside and give us no more of His favor. We are sinful and unworthy. In light of this, we must give thanks that God’s love is steadfast. Though you cannot earn and do not deserve His love, though you give Him a thousand and one reasons each day to remove His love, yet He loves you still. If you truly believe you are unworthy each day, then the thought of God’s steadfast love should be so greatly treasured by you that you are provoked to declare this amazing wonder to others.

God’s works make us glad and cause us to sing – If our hearts worked rightly (which they do not as often as they should due to sin), the works of God would make us happy and provoke spontaneous singing of God’s praises. Therefore, confess to God the depravity of your heart. Call out to Him for help; that He might direct your heart in the love of Him. Beg that He might lead your heart to contemplate His works to the end that such a consideration would make you happy in God and bursting to sing His praise.

May God bless the contemplation of His Word to our sanctification and the praise of His glory!