Harvest Sunday

When I see the picture above, I am reminded of Jesus’s words to His disciples: “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for” (John 4:38). Notice the generosity of God’s kingdom reflected in those words. He lets us enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labors, such as when we share our love for Jesus with a friend whose family—unbeknown to us—has been praying for that person for years. Or when we tell a stranger our testimony of how Christ has changed our life, and to see that person respond with such curiosity because others have previously planted the seeds of the gospel. Conversely, we can see the implied limits of Jesus’s words, for we may be the one planting seeds that we will never harvest but someone else may.

Therefore, we can rest in the tasks before us, not being fooled into thinking that we are responsible for the outcomes. God’s work, after all, doesn’t depend on us. He has all of the resources for a bountiful harvest, and we are privileged to play a role in it. What fields ready for harvest are before us? At another time, Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

May we heed Jesus’s loving instruction to pray for laborers to be sent into his harvest, and if we are the ones being sent, let us be willing to go—as sowers or reapers—to do the work of the Lord of the Harvest.