“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 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. 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.” John 4:34-36 (NIV)
Let us consider God’s agenda for a moment. When he instructed his disciples to open their eyes and look at the fields, it was an indication that seeing men were not focused on the opportunity before them. They could see but were focused on something other than what Jesus saw. We need to focus our vision on what God sees!
Jesus told his disciples that the harvest was ready to be reaped. When a crop is ready to be harvested or reaped, the farmer can tell by looking at it. He knows the color of his crops when they are ready to be reaped. His eyesight must be clear and focused. His eyes pass information to his brain so that he can make a harvesting decision. The harvest will not wait on the farmer. If he does not act when the crop is ready, it will continue to ripen until it ruins and is lost.
Last evening in our International Assembly, Bishop Sherman Allen challenged the church: “Are we going to wait until it is too late? The harvest is ripe and it will not wait. What will challenge us to act in Jesus’ name? What will provoke us? Now is the time to act in the name of Jesus!”
Dear Father, thank you for you mercy and grace. Help us to awaken to your agenda for the world. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be encouraged today in God’s harvest,