"I WANT TO BE A DITCH DIGGER FOR JESUS"
Before you can plant a seed. Before you can lay a foundation. You must first dig the ditch to put them in. That is why we need...Ditch Diggers
There are the planters of the seeds, there are those who tend the seeds. Making sure they have water to grow. There are those who harvest the crops. But, unless someone first tends the soil and digs the ditches to plant the seeds, all the other jobs are useless.
At times God will call us to fulfill many different jobs to share the gospel and love of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we are called to be a ditch digger. A nameless, faceless person who many do not see, but who's work is a blessings to those who are the recipients of their work, whose work is just as important as the pastor preaching the sermon, or the singers and musicians leading us in worship in church every Sunday. That, is a ditch digger.
We read in (2 Chronicles Chapter 3) How Solomon Built the temple. But, we know that Solomon on his own did not build the temple. To begin to build the temple first the ground had to be prepared and alot of people had to dig the foundation for the stones to sit on. There would not have been a temple without the ditch diggers. Yet, we do not know the names of the people who helped build that temple, we only know that God told Solomon to build the temple, and that Solomon set everything in motion for the temple to be built.
Then we look at Luke 10:1-24 These are the original ditch diggers of the new testament. Jesus sends out the 70 disciples to prepare the way.
The Seventy Sent Out
10 After these things the Lord appointed [a]seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to [b]us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 [c]But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
Woe to the Impenitent Cities
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, [d]who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. 16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
The Seventy Return with Joy
17 Then the [e]seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but [f]rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All[g] things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” 23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”
And today the ditch diggers press on in their work for the Lord. They take many forms. They are missionaries working in the fields and streets across the world meeting the daily needs of people. Janitors, maintenance workers, house cleaners, lawn care workers, plumbers, farmers, nurses aides etc.
Those who work behind the scenes in your church. They are there before the church service making sure that the church is clean, the heat or air conditioning is on, the sound tech people, those who prepare meals to feed the congregation, the prayer warriors who stay up late at night pouring their hearts out to God for a lost soul or a person who has a financial or physical need.
You do not see them working most of the time, but you enjoy the blessings from their labors. They are the ditch diggers of the 21st Century.
So, do you want to be a ditch digger for Jesus, and "work together to fulfill the great commission"?
