Harvest: What is the Harvest?

So I think it is pretty clear that the Harvest is people; or better yet the souls of the lost.  But who are the lost? Is it the murderer on death-row?  What about those who are alcoholics? Is the man or woman addicted to sex and drugs lost? The answer to put it frankly is......DUH. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.  The word "Lost" actually means, in this context, without Jesus.  Again that sounds so basic, does it not.  But is it really?

You see, Jesus came during a time when people were so caught up in doing good deeds to get to heaven (sound familiar?).  They were not "evil" people, but they failed to realize that their hope, in good deeds, was misplaced.  In the first reference passage (Matthew 9:35-38) Jesus refers to them as "sheep without a shepherd" (v. 36).

The prophet Isaiah put it in words that, I feel, make a ton of sense. In Isaiah 53:6 it says: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way".  Can you not see what Isaiah was trying to tell us here?  He was saying that being lost is not being "evil",  but instead it is going against Gods' way and choosing our own path.  That means ANY path that isn't Gods'.

Now that we understand what a lost soul really is; does it not bring to light a couple of things? First it shows us that yes the murderer, drunk, rapist, prostitute, and the drug addicts are lost. But so are our friends at school or work, the man we pass on the street, even the person that does great charity work. If they have not accepted Jesus and repented for their sins they are lost.

So how are the lost the harvest? This can be put like this: That no matter how great a persons life may seem, they are always looking and yearning for something better. And guess what, we know what is the best path and that is Salvation in Christ Jesus.