It's Time for a Harvest!

I love this time of year, especially since the dust from all the harvesting is finally settling down and my nose has almost quit running.  Lonoke County is mostly rural and while some of our farmers have moved on we still have thousands and thousands of acres of hay, rice, and soybeans.  It is amazing to see those big tractors out in the fields doing their thing. 

I remember some years back my husband got his first computerized hay baler.  It was kind of funny watching him from the window, tweaking the settings, climbing up in the cab of the tractor, then walking back to the baler; instruction manual in one hand, screwdriver in the other.  Once he got the settings correct that new baler made quick work of the entire field. 

One thing I have learned from Jimmy about farming is that when it is time to harvest you get to it otherwise you either lose your crop or you lose revenue as the price steadily drops from the time the first tractor hits the first field.  In other words... it's all about the timing.  When the crops are ready don't put it off or they will be lost and it will be a long, hard year.  Jeremiah lamented about a different kind of lost harvest.

The harvest is past, 
The summer has ended, 
And we are not saved!
Jeremiah 8:20 ~ NKJ

Jeremiah responded in anguish as he watched a world dying in sin.  We watch that same world still rejecting God... still dying in sin.  How often do we actually mourn for our lost world? For our family, friends, and neighbors? How often do we use excuses to keep from sharing the gospel?  How often do we share part of the story but fall short when it is time to get down to the truth about salvation?  It is only when we share Jeremiah's passion... his anguish... that we will begin to move into the field. Are we properly equipped for such a harvest?

First and foremost, let's be honest here...we can not share what we do not have. If we have not experienced salvation ourselves how then can we lead others to it? Just because one spends their entire life in church, even being a good worker in the church does not make one saved.

Secondly, we must have a passion for the lost. How do we turn the ember of interest into a flame of fervor? It really is simple... ask God that He break our hearts for the world He loves. Make a list of those you would like to share God with and faithfully pray over that list.  Be ready to move when the Holy Spirit gives you the go ahead.  If we could just have His eyes for one moment to get a glimpse of the world around us... a moment would be all we could stand!

Thirdly, we must acknowledge that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be a witness for Him.Not just the Sunday school teacher, the Pastor (or the Pastor's wife) not just the visitation committee... EVERYONE OF US!  God places the unsaved, the unchurched, and those in church smack dab in the middle of our paths for a reason! Let us not be blind... let us not be self serving... let us not be apathetic. Let us take action, now, before it is too late!

Matthew 28:19,20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in he name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen  ~NKJ

Finally, we must not take for granted our Christian walk and what it takes to maintain a good and true and personal relationship with our precious Lord and Savior.  Our prayer time, our study of His Word, our obedience to Him...our trust in Him... our faithfulness to Him. It is only then that we will be like a good working tractor... steadily moving row upon row until the harvest is complete.

Let's just quit using excuses like: I am afraid to say the wrong thing. I don't want to offend anybody. What if they ask a question I don't know the answer to? And the list goes on and on and on and on.  What is your excuse for being bogged down? Whatever it is recognize it...give it over to God...and get on with it, man, we are burning daylight here!

John 4:35 "Do you not say, there are still four months then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for the harvest."