Billy Ray Parrish
A harvest is significant to any society as we depend on food. Some of the best tasting foods come from farmers hard at work throughout the year to bring about an abundance of delicious foods such as fruits and vegetables but long before this harvest is possible, these farmers are preparing for what they hope is a large and successful harvest by making sure their equipment and facilities are ready for the upcoming season.
Within Christian circles, the harvest is an event that is significant as it is the results of all of God’s works within the lives of people. All throughout the Bible, we hear about a spiritual harvest and is used in parables and as metaphors for our growth and health within Christ’s spirit. When you think about a physical harvest with food or with agriculture is very similar to that of a spiritual harvest. All of the work, the preparation, the perseverance, the patience and finally the results are very similar.
The picture of the harvest is an absolutely and wonderful way of just how beautiful God is. Just like in the physical harvest; and just about any other project that we are involved with, if the work is done then the results are highly possible. Of course, there are no guarantees in this life regardless of how much time and effort you put in and the spiritual harvest is the same way in terms of gathering of others as there have been large and small revivals held dating back hundreds of years in this county and while many were saved, not all were.
We see an example of the harvest in Matthew 9:36-38:” But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they ||fainted, and were nscattered abroad, oas sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will rsend forth labourers into his harvest.” We see here that there were a multitude, or many, people who were in need of repentance and a harvest was just waiting to be realized and the same is true for our country.
The story of Jesus and the woman at the well is just one example of what a harvest looks like. In John 4:35, Jesus tells us ”Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on tthe fields; for they are white already to harvest.” As we read further into the chapter, we see that in the days to follow, there were many Samaritans that became believers in Christ. In John 4:42, the Samaritans explain “And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
Like a physical harvest, Christians have a lot of work ahead of them. We are to work on the soil and plow the ground and we do this by spreading the word of God. We cannot just spread what we want heard but rather, what God says. We know from what scripture says that some people’s hearts are good soil and the seed will sprout when the seed is planted. We cannot force anything, though, and it’s up to a person to accept it within their heart and for it to mature. While we do spread the word of God, or plow the ground, we cannot do anything to change the soil as that is God’s responsibility.
And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10
—Luke 8:9-15
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God: but to others in parables; hthat seeing they might not see, and
hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The
seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear;
then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they,
which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no
root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have
heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of
this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground
are they, which in lan honest and good heart, having heard the word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
When I was younger, I remember different people telling me about God and His bountiful ways and what I have come to learn is that the person to plant the seed and the one who helps reap it and the one who gives it sunlight are not always the same person. During my lifetime, I have had many different people to come and go and while they may not have stayed for a long period of time, they were crucial to the harvest in my life. At this point in my life, being the one trying to spread God’s word and watch a harvest unfold, it can be very discouraging not to see someone saved but just like a farmer, we may never see the fruits of our labors. The best that we can do is let God have it and hope for the best.
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