Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, where He would be betrayed, abandoned, and killed — the Son of God, murdered as an innocent Man. His final thoughts, however, were not on His upcoming suffering in His time of trouble but on helping others and ensuring His work would continue after He had left this earth.
When speaking to His disciples, Jesus told a story about the kingdom of heaven. A landowner went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard, sending them to their work. At the third hour, when he saw the vineyard needed more help, he went out again and hired additional laborers.
At the sixth hour, realizing further laborers were needed because of the abundance of work remaining, the landowner went out and hired more workers for his vineyard. At the ninth hour, he hired still more!
At the eleventh hour — almost the close of the workday — the landowner reasoned that he could yet harvest what remained if he could find added laborers for the last fragments of time. He went to see if there were any laborers left. Sure enough, there were some who could do a good work if they would go and serve. The landowner said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” With time running out and the harvest yet unfinished, these eleventh-hour laborers were still needed.
Now is the eleventh hour of this world’s history. Already fulfilled are the vast majority of the signs of the times Jesus outlined in Matthew 24. Wars, rumors of wars, pestilences, and upheaval press on every side. The idol of Daniel 2:34 will soon be crushed by a “stone made without hands.” Jesus is soon to return.
Now, at this dark hour, thousands of fields remain unreached by the gospel, each teeming with the beauty and culture of a unique people group whom Jesus loves and wants to see in His eternal kingdom. Continuing to look for laborers for this yet-unfinished work, Jesus approaches you and me, saying, “You also go into the vineyard.”
Jesus has called my wife and me to the vineyard to work; we are headed to Japan as career missionaries to reach the unreached. However, multitudes of languages, tongues, and peoples in the harvest fields await laborers. The Lord needs more workers among the Yadav Hindus in India, the Tonga Animists of Mozambique, the Muslims of the Maghreb, and many other people groups. Will you join us in answering His call to go and work in the vineyard?
Please email service@afmonline.org and let AFM help you find the vineyard to which the Lord is calling you.
