It was another beautiful morning; I was sitting in a seaside café on the Indian Ocean with my morning coffee and reading my Bible. As I read the Lord directed me to a familiar passage, “I will make you fishers of men.” As I just pondered the Master’s words I observed the local fishermen rowing their small boats out to sea. As they began to throw their nets out over the water I realized that these men were fishing the same way Peter and James did in their day.

Once the nets settled into the sea they began the task of pulling them back in. As they began to pull there were only two groups working, one group was on the far side of the beach and the other was positioned immediately in front of me. As they worked their nets the two groups slowly drew closer to each other. While they did this other fisherman, in an effort to drive the fish into the nets, slapped the water and shouted excitedly.

As I watched this event I could hear the Lord whisper, “See, this is how you bring in the harvest.” I continued to watch in amazement as the rest of our team joined me for breakfast and listened with rapt attention as I explained to them what was happening.

Soon the two groups of fishermen had merged into one large group, all them struggling to pull the heavy nets onto the land. You could feel their growing excitement as they sensed their harvest was going to be abundant. As they worked feverishly to bring in the nets, the crowd watching them grew larger. Suddenly, Van Bloss, our team leader, jumped out of his seat, ran down to the beach, rolled up his pant legs, and joined the men, helping them pull in the catch. As he struggled with the nets I saw that Van had become more than an observer; he was now a fellow laborer in the harvest.

Later that day when I had time to reflect on the morning events, I realized that the Lord let me see a microcosm of his harvest. I could see that it takes many workers to bring in the harvest. Yes, there will always be a crowd that will gather and merely watch. They may want to be part of the work, but they are unwilling to sweat and get their hands dirty. What the harvest needs, however, are more laborers, laborers who are willing to join others so that together we can bring in the great, end-time harvest.

Where are you? Are you only part of a crowd that is content to watch, or are you ready to pull in the nets and help our national partners bring in the harvest. Equipping for the Harvest equips us to work together with our brothers and sisters around the world by coming alongside them in their efforts. Join our national partners in the harvest; get your hands dirty and help them pull in the nets.