Compassion like Christ

Matthew 9:35-38   “³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.    ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

As a believer it's important to keep in mind that we have a mission, a purpose for and from Christ. 

One of the things that stand out to me clearly from the scriptures is that Christ had compassion for others before he had compassion on himself.  This compassion led him to meet the needs of others.

Christ met the physical needs of those around him the Scripture says he went through town after town village after village. As he went through these towns and villages he met people who had great needs, and he met them right where they were. Often being interrupted he took the time to lovingly minister to those he met.

The compassion of Christ led him to meet the spiritual needs of those people he met. He went teaching and preaching to those towns and villages thereby meeting the  greater needs of the people.   His world needed the good news and guess what? 

The generation we live in today still needs the good news!  Christ compassion caused him to have concern over their spiritual eternity. He was concerned for their condition, he prayed for them, he challenged them to forsake their former lives and follow him.

Here is something else that stands out to me as I reflect upon this passage:  Christ compassion caused him to petition his father in prayer.  He asked for things to change and He repeatedly taught his disciples, even the Pharisees and Sadducees, and those around him to ask God. He talked about praying in the smallest amounts of faith and producing the greatest results imaginable.  On one occasion  He gave a model to pray, but most impressive He lived before them as an example of what prayer was to be like. 

This may seem simple but I think it is a truth we often forget or overlook: Without asking there can be no answer!   What is it we have failed to ask God to do?  In our lives, our family, our community?   Is there an area we simply need to asked God to work in and then trust him to answer?  We should learn to pray and understand that without God nothing is or can be accomplished.  Yet when we get up from our knees and leave our prayer closet we should expect God to use us to meet those needs.    I cannot tell you how many times I have prayed for something and then God gave me an opportunity to be the one to meet that need.     

You'd do well to realize the one we asked wants to bless more than we know, think or can imagine. 

As you pilgrimage through this world remember that we are sent out and we are not the sender!  We are sent out we are not sent in that is an important distinction. It's also important for us to realize this is His field and not ours.  Therefore,  if it's His harvest and not ours why wouldn't the Lord of the harvest grant the request of the one who's praying?