Soft And Flabby

 Bible Reading: Matthew 9:27-38

Key Verse: Verse 37 – “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;”

   Key Words: but the labourers are few

The reason there are so few laborers in God’s field is because it is hard work!  But the rewards of laboring are well worth the effort.

Robert Hastings tells the following story that so amply illustrates the reward of laboring in God’s field.

“A friend of mine, Milo B. Arbuckle, likes to hunt and fish in the Rockies.  His jeep often takes him off the beaten paths to where the mountain streams are clearest and the game most plentiful.  His specialty is trout, including the rainbow, native, German-brown, and cutthroat.

“One of his favorite haunts is about 10,000 feet up in the mountains, where the Rio Grande starts its long, winding descent through Colorado, New Mexico, then slices Texas from Mexico, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

“‘The best trout are up there,’ Milo boasts.  ‘It is the nature of trout constantly to move upstream.  The weaker and diseased fish are swept downstream.  Only the strongest eventually reach the top, where the water is clearest and coldest.’

“Milo can judge a fish that has struggled upstream, for it is firmer and more muscular.  He easily spots a hatchery-bred trout, because it is soft and flabby.

“I thought of the hymn ‘Higher Ground.’  It is the nature of a growing Christian to swim upstream.  He may not always reach his goal, but his direction is onward and upward, while Christians who drift with the current end up soft and flabby.”

 So don’t be a soft and flabby Christian – labor in God’s field.

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ God never promised that the Christian life would be easy; but it is very rewarding, so never give up.  Always remember that as a Christian the fight is always upstream.