Fall makes us think of harvest time. We enjoy picking apples right off the trees. Pumpkin patches are great places to take the kids and to pick the pumpkins that will eventually become the delicious pies we enjoy on Thanksgiving. Cranberries are harvested in the fall as well, just in time to make an appearance on our Thanksgiving dinner tables.
There is a proper time to harvest every fruit and vegetable, and if we don’t take advantage of that time, the fruits and vegetables will just wither on the vine; they will be lost.
There is another harvest that we must keep in mind and be sure not to miss. If we aren’t cultivating the fruit and looking for the right time to harvest it, it too will be lost. Jesus cared deeply about this particular harvest and said this in Matthew 9:36-38.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We are the workers Jesus has sent out into the fields of harvest. There are so many lost in the fields, and if we don’t get to work, watering and cultivating, they will remain lost for eternity. Jesus takes the harvest very seriously and we must as well. Paul tells us in Colossians 4:5 to be wise in how we act toward those outside the church and to make the most of every opportunity. God provides the opportunities to touch the hearts of those around us with His saving love, but we have to seize the opportunities He provides.
It’s fall; it’s harvest time. Let’s get out in the fields of harvest. Let’s start making the most of every opportunity. It’s time to get to work.
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