Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together (John 4:36).

Note the last part of the above words of Jesus, “so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” Our number one sower is Jesus Christ, who sowed himself as a kernel of wheat, fell to the ground, and died. And the reapers are those who follow him spreading the good news of salvation through his death and resurrection. The above words promise that the sower and the reapers will rejoice together about the harvests they both have worked for. That means that if you do not work for the harvests by following him, you will not be able to have this kind of joy.

Read Luke 9:51-10:24 because it sheds more light on this truth. What you see there are three types of people who have come into contact with Jesus, and accepted him as the Messiah. The first type is seen in the Samaritans, who wished that Jesus would stay with them for some time, but when their request was refused because he was heading for Jerusalem, did not welcome him.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-53).

They believed in Jesus all right, but they wanted him to be their own Jesus in a selfish way: Jesus was their instrument for their blessings, not really the Lord. The second type is seen in those who say that they will follow him, but are not really ready to do so, or those who are called by God, but only promise to follow him sometime later by giving some excuses for not doing so right away, or those who have decided to follow him, but look back and think about the life they had.

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (vv. 57-58)."

He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God (vv. 59-60)."

Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God (vv. 62-62)."

All of these people failed to follow him, and were not included in the “seventy-two” disciples who were actually sent by Jesus in chapter 10.