God Speaking

“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 in to the harvest field”

(Matthew 9: 37 – 38)

I had a very exciting day, this Fall, as my son-in law and my daughter with their two young children, asked me to accompany them on a trip to the Pumpkin Patch to select pumpkins to decorate their house for Halloween.  I had never actually done this before and the adventure began with a beautiful drive into the countryside along winding roads lined with stately trees in their full magnificent Autumn colours.

When we arrived, we met with another daughter and her children, and I was amazed to see so many young families on the same mission. We climbed on to carts filled with hay bales (I needed a bit of help to get on) and a tractor pulled us out to the field of pumpkins. What a sight. Pumpkins lying on the ground as far as the eye could see, a plentiful harvest!

Jesus used this term to describe the number of people longing to hear the good news, but there weren’t enough of his family who were willing to tell them. He was urging his disciples and of course us as well, to begin harvesting. His listeners were very aware of what harvesting meant and especially the term plentiful.

One of the special celebrations was the Feast of Harvest, also known as the Feast of Weeks. This special Feast was to celebrate God’s special providing of food and the best of the first harvesting was to be brought to the temple and dedicated to him

“Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field.” (Exodus 23: 16)

Harvesting of course requires effort. Effort, first, to sow the seed then to water and cultivate and then the final act of gathering the harvest. If any of the steps are left out, a poor harvest will be the result.

Jesus tells the well-known parable of, The Sower, (Matthew 13: 3) this illustrates the first step always lies in God’s word and the spreading of that word.

The next step is to spread that word with love. God speaks through his prophet, Hosea, telling his people that the seed has to be first planted within ourselves, then it can spread with love.

“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed land; for it is time to seek the Lord…” (Hosea 10: 12)

The watering and cultivating comes with how we live that loving word so that others are nurtured through our example and we will witness a plentiful harvest. James gives us some good advice on how to exactly accomplish that.

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peace makers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3: 17 – 18)

So, the message is simple, if we allow the word of God to be planted first in our own hearts, and allow it to grow, we will be capable workers to help reap that plentiful harvest for the Lord Jesus Christ.