Join God in his harvest

Good morning. This is a devotional for single adults from Parenting Solo, but the message also applies to single adults without children who may one day marry a single parent and be a step-parent. Feel Free to forward it to a friend.

Scripture: John 4:34-35 (The Message) Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!”

One of my most vivid memories of growing up on a farm was the golden fields of wheat, ready to be harvested. What is planted in spring and harvested in summer. Often, I was able to watch the fields grow from a green sprout in the ground until harvest time. A combine would cut the wheat stalks and separate the heads of wheat at the top. When I was in junior high, I worked for my dad as his weighmaster, the person who weighed the trucks loaded with grain that came directly from the fields. The harvested wheat was paid for by the tonnage, at whatever the market price was at the time.

In this analogy, the person who planted the wheat was not the same person who came by in a combine and cut the stocks at harvest time. There were also people who disked up the previous crop, set the planting rows, added vertilizer, and another who watered the crops regularly. Sunshine, provided by God, was needed every day. At harvest time, everybody got paid equally. Each person in the chain of jobs was equally important in order for the wheat to be eaten by cattle (in our case, or to the mill in other cases).

As Jesus is telling the story, it is springtime, and the crops are still growing in the sun. The disciples are pressing him to move on, away from Sychar and the Samaria they despised so much. Instead, Jesus tells them to look around at the potential crop right in front of them. They were hungry, but Jesus wasn’t, because, he told them, his nourishment came from his Father above, who filled him generously.

The key is that God sent us to finish the work that he already started. Each of us can look around and see crops planted by God all around us. He has already started good works in different areas of our lives. We just need to have our eyes open to see what is sprouting up around us to know what he wants us to do. Maybe one of us is to water, another is to fertilize, and still another of us is meant to drive the combine in the field. In each situation, there are plenty of jobs to be done. Each has a different skill. The only requirement is the desire to be an active participant in God’s work. We all can reap the rewards of the harvest.

How does this apply to my life?

Today’s prayer: Lord, help us to want to see the ministry you have started around us. Help us to be a part of the whole process, no matter how small or large the task. Amen

Doug Mead
Parenting Solo

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Vol. 3, No. 156

This week’s reading plan can be found at http:/www.oneyearbibleonline.com/november.asp?version=51