Have you ever known a farmer who took his time getting his crops harvested? Not one who valued his crops! As harvest season approaches, farmers plan and prepare for a physically strenuous and busy schedule. They start early in the morning and work with lights late into the night.
Why?
Because harvest season is brief. It is one short window of time in which to gather the fruit of a year’s labor. No matter how good the crop, it means nothing if it is allowed to waste in the fields.
Jesus spoke to men who were familiar with cycles of planting and harvesting when He said: “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35).
When Jesus saw people who were without salvation, He saw their spiritual need. He realized they fainted as sheep having no shepherd, and He reminded His disciples that the timing of reaching these people was critical.
Each year, our church denotes the month of October as “Country Harvest Days.” We plan special Sundays with special activities for fall. But mostly, we remember that these indeed are “harvest days,” and we give added focus to soulwinning and reaching the lost with the Gospel.
This week in particular, many from our church family will go out door-to-door hand delivering invitations to every home in our community. Saturating our valley with the Gospel requires tremendous effort, but during harvest season, extra effort is rewarded! “And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together” (John 4:36).
Just as a productive farmer will have a sense of urgency that motivates untiring action, so a fruitful Christian will fervently give of himself to gather a harvest of souls! We must learn to see people as Jesus did. In these days when anger and cynicism abound on the internet and in “real life,” we must return to the compassion of Jesus.
