As Jesus went from town to town preaching the good news of the kingdom, he saw how the people were harried and hounded because of a lack of shepherding care, even though Israel had many religious leaders at that time (Matt 9:35-36). His solution was to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers out who would sacrificially provide true comfort and care to lost souls.
The same situation existed in 1558 when John Calvin said,
“A similar confusion may now be observed in Popery, though it is full of persons who are called pastors: for there is a prodigious crowd of those who, under the name of clergy, eat up the flock. They are dumb dogs (Isa 56:10), and yet are not ashamed to make a vehement sound about their hierarchy. But we must listen to the voice of Christ, who declares that where there are no laborers there are no shepherds, and that those sheep are wandering and scattered which are not collected into the fold of God by the doctrine of the gospel.”
Pray today that the Lord of the harvest will send workers into his harvest field!
Dan Greenfield 