What are your goals for this next year? Maybe you are thinking of positive habits you would like to pick up. Perhaps you are considering the health goals that you have for the next year. While the start of a new year brings about goals and hopes to make better, healthier habits, there is one goal that stands out among all of the rest for followers of Christ: making Christ known to everyone around us.
We can read about Jesus’ compassion for the lost, those who do not have a relationship with Him, in Matthew 9. In this passage of Scripture, he was traveling through towns and villages, teaching and healing (verse 35). Of course, this caused crowds to gather. Scripture reveals that when Jesus “saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (verse 36). Jesus clearly saw the lostness surrounding Him. He saw people who needed His saving power. This brought deep compassion. As He observed the crowds of people, “He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few” (verse 37). The need that Jesus saw around Him was great. He saw crowds of people in need of rescuing and saving. He also knew that there was a great need for people to spread His message of hope and salvation. That is why He concluded, “So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields” (verse 38). His desire was for more people to make Him and His message of hope and salvation known.
We are the people who get to carry Christ’s message today. We are the people who have the privilege to tell others about the hope and salvation that He offers. The question is, are we going out and spreading His message? As Jesus said, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.” Will you commit to going and making Him known to everyone around you?
As we are beginning a brand-new year, take some time to think about the people in your life who do not have relationships with Christ. What steps can you take to reach out to them this year? Commit to taking those steps starting today. If you cannot think of anyone in your life who is far from Christ, what places can you go to consistently to develop relationships with people who are far from Christ, like the gym, a local coffee shop, your child's soccer practice, or somewhere else? Start going to that place starting this week! Don’t forget to ask God to help you as you seek to make Him known to those around you.
1Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. 2 Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.”
3 But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”
4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
7 And the man jumped up and went home! 8 Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority.
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?”
15 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
17 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
18 As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”
19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. 20 Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, 21 for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
23 When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. 24 “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him. 25 After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! 26 The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.
27 After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
28 They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?”
“Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” 30 Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” 31 But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.
32 When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. 33 So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed.
34 But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.”
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
