December 7 Harvest Time

John 4:35-38 “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 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. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
 
JESUS is excited! He’s joyful! Harvest has come to Sychar, Samaria. And it is not the harvest of wheat in the nearby fields; it is the harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God. Centuries of soul preparation and seeds of knowing God had been planted through the law and the prophets. Some of these seeds have now produced a first-fruits harvest in Samaria on this day. This is not a grim reaper of death that has come to Samaria. He is the reaper who gathers in his harvest of the redeemed. Revelation 14:15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
   God had prepared this wayward people to receive his abundant grace. People are about to come to confess, “This man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42) Prophets had proclaimed the kingdom in Samaria. They had been killed, persecuted and ridiculed. Yet, God acted. He chose a few in this rebellious land to become his own. The Sovereign Lord has promised and planned. Now he harvests. The prophets’ work has not been in vain. The disciples benefited from others’ obedient kingdom planting of spiritual seeds. God has used some to prepare the soil, to plant the seed and now to harvest.
   This kingdom pattern is still God’s way. His church – the body of believers together and each one of us who confess Christ – is to respond to God’s purposeful direction to fulfill our role for the eternal harvest. Some of you are gifted to plant seeds – to invite people to church, to teach the Bible and tell of God. Others of you have skills in nurturing faith and encouraging new believers. Some of you are gifted to bring in the harvest – to welcome people into their confession of Christ as Savior.
   Yes, this was a joyful day for Jesus. His physical hunger was put aside as he happily watched the Father’s harvest of hungry, thirsty Samaritans to be born again into new life. The Father had prepared the soil. The Spirit had sown the seed. The Son harvested. Heaven became a sure home for God’s new children that day.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Lord for the harvest. I pray I will be an effective worker in your fields. Amen.