It's Harvest Time

I love fall. It’s my favorite season, and it has been long before I ever went on a western hunt:) The crisp, cool nights. The amazing colors of the leaves. The sunsets and sunrises during the harvest.

That harvest image is one that we are all familiar with isn’t it. The time when livestock is sold, wheat is cut, and corn is put in the corn crib. We see it in the very decorations that permeate every corner of every home and store.

With every modern culture relying on the harvest for sustained life, Jesus used that imagery as a bridge to a greater and more eternal harvest.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. — Matthew 9:35-38

We are all called to be laborers in the harvest of the kingdom. I’m sure we all have people in our lives who are under harassment or feeling helpless. Maybe it’s even you.

*Without a laborer, filled with the hope of the gospel, how will these precious image bearers of God find refuge? *

Our purpose on this planet is to bring hope and the joy of a life with Jesus into the darkness. WE have the hope of Spring in our hearts because of the cross. Darkness doesn’t win. The light of Christ sustains EVERYTHING.

I pray that we will all be part of the harvest. That spiritual labor will pour from our hearts and move our hands and feet. Let this season not just be about pumpkin spice, but let it be one of reaping the gospel seeds you’ve been planting in those your are cultivating each and every day.