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. (Luke 10:2)
During the season of summer missions and services, we’d like to share a chapter of Lindsey Carlson’s Rooted devotional, Identity: Discovering Who You Are In Christ to help you talk with your child about what it means to labor for Christ. Enjoy!
I learned how to build a house as a ninth grader when our church’s youth group partnered with Habitat for Humanity. I agreed to pack my duffel bag, ride in a van across the state, and sleep on the floor of another church’s gym, all in order to build a home for a family in need.
It wasn’t a particularly selfless endeavor. I didn’t enjoy manual labor. I had no idea what I would be asked to do and no skills to speak of. I’d never built a wall. I didn’t know what “taping and bedding” meant. I committed to this trip because I had a fear of missing out. If I’d realized how hot the summer sun would feel or how little downtime there’d be, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to serve.
Miraculously, I showed up and worked. I learned how to use power tools, I helped frame the house, I put up drywall and painted. In one week, we turned an empty grass lot into a safe place for a family to sleep. And a marvelous thing happened inside my heart: I began to enjoy laboring for others.
In Luke 10:2. Jesus dispatched seventy-two of his followers to work among the people in surrounding towns, declaring God’s coming kingdom in order to gather true believers from the plentiful harvest. Today we (the church) are God’s skilled laborers, and we’re continuing the same gospel work. As we labor in various ways for the furtherance of the gospel, the Lord of the harvest gathers his people from every nation, building his spiritual house not of bricks and mortar but of redeemed saints who are bound together by the precious blood of Christ. How might God call you to labor too?
At this stage of life, teenagers are regularly encouraged to pursue their dream job in order to build their own life and identity. But in Christ, you already have a God-given identity: you are a skilled worker, and you are called to enter the harvest on behalf of Christ. Every day, God takes your contributions and establishes your work to build his house.
You don’t need a hammer to obediently labor alongside Jesus. Use your daily life, your choices, your conversation, your commitments, and your relationships to participate in the work of calling people to trust and follow Jesus. By his grace, this noble work of kingdom-building will last into eternity.
Ask: What might it look like for you to labor within the kingdom of God? What strengths or skills has God given you that can help you do the work of evangelism or discipleship?
Confess: Lord Jesus, I confess that I want to find my identity in my skills and work for my own glory. Forgive me for failing to use my gifts to labor for your kingdom. When I’m nervous to labor in your name, help me to be bold and courageous.
Discover: In Christ, I am an active laborer, and I have been sent into the fields to gather the harvest.
Identity: Discovering Who You Are In Christ is a 31-day Rooted devotional written for teenagers.
