HARK, THE VOICE OF JESUS CALLING

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,
HARK, THE VOICE OF JESUS CALLING
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV).
“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” (Matthew 9:37-38 NIV).
Daniel March was a pastor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in the late nineteenth century when he had the inspiration to compose the hymn, “HARK, THE VOICE OF JESUS CALLING.” He composed the hymn during a service to replace a hymn that he perceived was not suitable for his message, and he sang the hymn immediately. Undoubtedly, Isaiah 6:8 and Matthew 9:37-38 (quoted above) would come to mind as some of the Bible passages that Daniel March might likely used as Scripture texts for his sermon that day.
More than in the days of Daniel March, the voice of Jesus is still calling today, “Who will go and work today? Fields are ripe and harvests waiting, who will bear the sheaves away?” Will you answer the call like Isaiah and say, “Here am I. Send me!”? Daniel March gave some explanations in his hymn. You do not need to go to a distant place to do this assignment. You can find the lost around you; you can help them at your door. You do not need to have millions of dollars before you can give for missions. You can give the widow’s mite, because, what you truly give for Jesus will be precious in His sight. You do not need to be a great speaker before you speak of the love of Jesus and His death. You can even lead the little children to the Savior’s waiting arms. While you may not be noticeable to many people as some great evangelists and preachers of the Gospel, with your prayers and with your bounties, you can secretly do what heaven demands. You can even be like faithful Aaron and Hur who held up the hands of Moses while Joshua was in the war front fighting God’s battle (see Exodus 17:10-13).
Having warned that we should not let people hear us idly saying, “There is nothing I can do. While the lost of earth are dying, and the Master calls for you”, Daniel March, therefore, concluded in the hymn with this admonition: “Take the task He gives you gladly; Let His work your pleasure be; Answer quickly when He calls you, Here am I, send me, send me.” Are you ready to yield to this admonition?
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).