Monday | 30 March 2026
One of the designations that Jesus gave to His disciples was ‘labourers’. It specifically relates to the work of tending the Father’s vineyard, and to gathering His harvest. Mat 20:1‑2. Luk 10:2. For example, Jesus said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.’ Mat 9:37‑38.
Although ministry in the church and evangelism appear to be the primary focus of one’s labour as a disciple, this is not the case. Paul was clear that our first labour is to enter God’s rest. He wrote, ‘For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent [literally, ‘let us labour’] to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.’ Heb 4:8‑11.
In the Scriptures, the term ‘rest’ refers to an inheritance that is given by God. He called it ‘My rest’. Psa 95:11. This inheritance is promised to those who receive God’s initiative to establish them in His kingdom. ‘The kingdom of God’ is the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is revealed to us through the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom. We labour to enter this rest by receiving and walking in the light of the gospel of the kingdom. By receiving and walking in these commands, we are being discipled and are abiding in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit. Mat 28:18‑20. This is the basis of our testimony and is essential to our labour for the sake of others so that they might enter this same rest.
Further Study:
Hebrews 4
References:
Mat 20:1-2
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Luk 10:2
Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.’
Mat 9:37-38
Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.’
Heb 4:8-11
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us, therefore, be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
Psa 95:11
So, I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’
Mat 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’