In the Kingdom of GOD, the greatest qualification for the work is not skill, visibility, or results; it is the state of the heart.
Before GOD commits HIS work into a man’s hands, HE first weighs what is within him, because the heart is the true custodian of every divine assignment.
As it is written, “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). When Prophet Samuel stood before the sons of Jesse, he was drawn to Eliab by appearance and stature, yet GOD rejected him.
This reveals a pattern: men are impressed by what is seen: giftings, eloquence, structure, but GOD searches deeper. HIS gaze settles on the unseen condition of the heart.
Before any man is sent, he must first feel. Not shallow emotion, but a deep spiritual perception, to see as the FATHER sees and to be moved as HE is moved. “But when HE saw the multitudes, HE was moved with compassion on them…” (Matthew 9:36).
JESUS began with sight, but that sight gave birth to compassion, and from compassion came the call: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37).
This reveals a profound truth: the call to labour is born from what a man has seen and felt in GOD.
A true labourer is first touched by the FATHER’S heart before being sent into the field. Without compassion, the harvest will be reduced to activity, performance, or even content. But the Harvest is not limited by the availability of fields; it is limited by the condition of the hearts sent into it.
There is a kind of heart GOD entrusts with HIS harvest: a formed heart, broken open by compassion and stripped of self. “So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands” (Psalm 78:72). The order is clear: the heart first, then the hands. The heart defines how a man receives instruction, carries responsibility, and represents GOD in the field.
You may have skill in your hands and clarity in your speech, but if your heart is unformed, your labour will carry mixture. And so, before the sending, before the speaking, before the engagement with the harvest, GOD asks a weighty question: What is in your heart? Luke 16:15
At the core of the labourer’s heart are two defining realities: a heart touched by the FATHER’S compassion and a life emptied of self.
JESUS did not approach the multitudes with strategy but with compassion. HE saw souls, not opportunities. In contrast, many today see crowds and think of influence rather than burden. But a true labourer does not write to impress, he writes because something presses within him. He does not speak to be heard; he speaks because silence would be disobedience. He does not engage people as projects but encounters them as souls seen by GOD.
Yet compassion alone is not enough, there must also be the death of self. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…” (John 12:24).
The productivity of a life is tied to its death. In the harvest lies a subtle temptation to build a name for oneself while claiming to serve HIS Name. But true labour is marked by hidden faithfulness, obedience without applause, and a refusal to manipulate outcomes for relevance.
The labourer’s heart, therefore, is a paradox: deeply compassionate, yet completely surrendered; burdened for souls, yet emptied of self; fully engaged in the work, yet detached from personal gain.
When the FATHER’S compassion meets the death of self, a man emerges whom GOD can trust with lives.
The truth still remains the same: The Harvest is ready. The fields are open. But Heaven is not merely asking, “Who is available?” It is asking, “Whose heart has been touched, and whose self has been dealt with?”
For Luke 16:15 Amplified version says: But HE said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but GOD knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination) in the sight of GOD.
May we not only desire to enter the Harvest, but may we become men and women whose hearts are pure enough for GOD to entrust HIS assignment with.
