A Bible Study on Luke 10:2

Luke 10:2 is a verse full of tremendous truth for Christians.  Here is a Bible study I put together to look at this verse and learn from it.  I hope it is a blessing and encouragement to you!


Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.  Luke 10:2 

Using Luke 10, answer the following questions:

Who is Jesus speaking to? 

What’s the context of this verse, what is happening when Jesus says this? (Read Luke 10:1) 

Jesus tells us there’s a problem with the harvest.  The harvest is ____________ but there are only ____________ laborers.

How does Jesus want us to address this problem?  

How are we to pray? 

Who are we praying to?  

Whose harvest is this, who does the harvest belong to? 

How can I apply this in my life and in my church? 


Additional Insights and Devotional Thoughts

• In Luke 10:2 Jesus tells us to “pray” to the Lord to send out more laborers to the harvest.  The word translated “pray” isn’t the typical word for prayer.  Luke 5:12 gives us an example of what Jesus means for us to “pray.”  Luke 5:12 tells us, “And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”  The word “besought” in Luke 5:12 is the same word translated “pray” in Luke 10:2!  When Jesus tells us to pray for God to send laborers to the harvest, He’s telling us to pray like the leper who fell on his face and begged for Jesus to cleanse him of his leprosy.  The leper knew he was helpless so he looked to the One that had the power to heal him.  He prayed with conviction, he prayed with urgency, he prayed with humility.  That is powerful prayer!  
• When Jesus says “pray” the verb tense is an imperative.  In other words, it is a command.  Jesus didn’t make this a suggestion, He expected His disciples to pray!
• When Jesus tells us to pray that the Lord would “send forth” laborers, the verb tense for “send forth” is in the present tense.  The present tense means something is happening in real time, it’s happening as we speak.  So when we pray, we are asking God to send laborers right now, at the very moment we are praying!
• The harvest belongs to the Lord!  Our job is to pray (Luke 10:2) and then go into the harvest (Luke 10:3).  Before we go to work, we are to pray for more co-workers!  Because it’s the Lord’s harvest, we can trust the results to Him!

2016 Election Resources

I wanted to share some good resources to help you gain perspective on the upcoming Presidential election.  No, I'm not endorsing a candidate or political party!  These resources have helped me understand more of what is at stake as we cast our ballots in 2016.  I hope you find them helpful!

• From R. Albert Mohler's 1/26/16 The Briefing.  Click on this link and you can read or listen to Dr. Mohler as he discusses two topics: "Every presidential election boils down to a choice between competing worldviews" and "Character, conviction, and worldview must be central in determining how a Christian votes."  
• Picking a President  by Jim Richards, Executive Director of The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention
• Southern Baptist Convention Resolution On Moral Character Of Public Officials
• The Presidential Election: Things to Keep In Mind by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Baptist Press articles on the 2016 Election
• Dear America: Evangelicals Can Pick the President. Period.  by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Christian Civility in an Election Year by K. Allan Blume, editor of the Biblical Recorder
• God, America, and Politics by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention

I'll update this article with more resources as I find them.

(Note:  Updated on 2/15/16 with new links)

The Gospel Is...

What is the gospel?  Quite simply the gospel is the good news that Jesus died for your sins!  When you trust Christ as your Savior, all your sins are forgiven – for good and forever!  Here are some more thoughts on the gospel.  (You can copy and paste these verses into Google to read them!)

• The gospel is EXCLUSIVE: John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Galatians 1:8.

• The gospel is EFFECTIVE: 1 Peter 3:18, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 7:25, Romans 1:16, Jude 1:24-25.

• The gospel is ETERNAL: Hebrews 5:9, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 10:14, John 17:2-3.

• The gospel is for EVERYONE: John 3:16, Romans 3:23, 1 John 2:2.

You can also watch this brief video that tells the story of the life-changing gospel!

The Sun, Moon and Stars

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)

This is an amazing passage from the Bible for many reasons.  First, it gives us the truth of God creating our world and in particular the sun, moon and stars.  God created our world and He created us.  Secondly, it directly links God's creation with something we use practically every day - a calendar!

Notice in verse 14 that God puts the sun and moon into the sky "to divide the day from the night" and to let them be for signs and seasons, and  for days and years."  God blessed us with the sun and moon to help us mark time.  We use the sun daily to mark our days - when the sun comes up our day begins and it ends when the sun goes down!  God did this on purpose, not by accident!  By giving us the sun and moon God gave us an orderly way of keeping track of our time here on earth.

The U. S. Naval Observatory describes calendars in this way, "A calendar is a system of organizing units of time for the purpose of reckoning time over extended periods." (See their article here.)  They further explain, "The principal astronomical cycles are the day (based on the rotation of the Earth on its axis), the year (based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun), and the month (based on the revolution of the Moon around the Earth)."  Did you notice the U. S. Naval Observatory is saying the same thing God tells us in Genesis 1:14!  How amazing is that!!

We use calendars to mark our days and years while here on the earth.  Every time you look at a calendar, pause for a moment and give thanks to God for creating the sun and moon and for giving us an orderly system to keep track of our days and years!

Keep Thy Heart With All Diligence

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23

In this post I'm going to share my sermon notes on a message preached by Pastor/Missionary Allen Sligh on January 15, 1995.  Pastor Sligh was my Pastor at Maranatha Baptist Church when I was stationed at Howard Air Force Base in the Republic of Panama.  I had these notes tucked away in my Bible and came across them the other day and felt they needed to be shared and be a help and blessing to others.  Here are my notes:

Introduction:  The heart is the very seat of emotion, source of being, it's not talking about the organ.  Our problems come when our heart is not right with the Lord.

1.  The Command:  Proverbs 23 is a command, it must be done, it is not an option.  None of God's commands are options.  He doesn't make a command that can't be kept. 1 John 3:20; Hebrews 8:10; Ephesians 6:6; Ephesians 4:18; Acts 11:23.  We harden our hearts by refusing to do what God tells us.

2.  The Cause:  As a man thinks, so he is (Proverbs 23:7).  Do you think on the world, you will be worldy.  The fountain of all our actions is our heart.  The heart controls our actions, actions become habits.  The heart can never be settle permanently.

3.  The Challenge:  With all diligence - guard your heart.  Great attention should be given to your heart.  Every inlet of sin should be guarded (Proverbs 4:24-27).  Make no provision for evil (Romans 13:14).  a) surrender your heart to God  b) diligence to guard  c)  saturate it with the Word of God  d) a will to pray  e)  confess sin immediately.

Mini Bible Study

Here's a mini Bible study for your day.  Read James 1:22 and Ezra 7:10 and then answer the questions below.

• What is James 1:22 telling us?
• What does Ezra 7:10 tell us that Ezra did?
• Was Ezra a hearer of God's word or a doer?
• Was Ezra intentional about what he did or did it just happen by accident?
• What can you apply from these verses to your life today?
• What specific steps should you take based on your study?

I hope this has been a blessing and encouragement to you today.

Who Do We Blame?

A man’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the Lord. (Proverbs 19:3)

I was thinking about this verse today.  It tells us the truth about our sin and its consequences and the truth about the human heart.  

The Biblical truth is that by nature, man is a sinner and by nature we go astray and sin.  When we sin, there are consequences.  For example, if you steal something, the consequence is getting arrested and possibly going to jail.  When you lie and are caught in that lie, the consequence can be you lose the trust and possibly the friendship of others.  I could go on, but I think I've made the point that when we sin, there will be negative consequences.  And the ultimate consequence of sin is death (see Romans 6:23).  I don't remember who said it, but they were correct when they said that we can choose our sin but we cannot choose the consequences of that sin.

The other Biblical truth that Proverbs 19:3 tells us is that when we receive the consequences for our sin, we tend to blame God.  When we get caught stealing, we blame God for sending us to jail.  When we get caught in a lie, we blame God for the truth coming out.  We naturally do not like to take the blame or responsibility for our sinful actions, so we have to blame Someone - why not God?

But when we blame God for the consequences of our sin, it's like blaming the dentist for the consequences of not brushing our teeth.  The dentist didn't give you the cavities.  The dentist didn't cause you to need a root canal.  You did that by choosing to neglect taking care of your teeth!  So when we suffer the consequences for our sin, we can't blame God!  The best thing we can do is to humbly accept the responsibility for our actions and come before Him in repentance and confession.  Yes, that is painfully humbling but it is the only thing we can do because we are the only one to blame.

If you are a Christian and have fallen into sin, come before the Lord in repentance and confess your sin and He will forgive you (see 1 John 1:9; Revelation 3:19).  If you are not a Christian - if you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior - come to Him in repentance and confess your sin.  You may want to watch this brief video to help you.

I pray this has been a help and an encouragement to you.