Four months more (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”-John 4:35 

Perhaps, it wasn’t a carnal need or a personal bias that caused the disciples to miss the harvest. What if instead they simply didn’t see the moment as being the right time share their new found faith. They had gone into town, mind you, to find lunch, not win souls. How often have we failed to share Christ with someone because we were waiting on the perfect conditions?

Do you not say, “There are still four months and “then” comes the harvest?” The reason we often fail to bring in the harvest is because we are waiting on the perfect conditions to reap. I wonder how much of the harvest is dying in the field, because we are waiting on the ideal conditions to reap? A lot can be lost in four months. According to the Kennedy Institute, 21,360,000 people will cross over into eternity during that time. Souls are passing into eternity in record numbers.

There is no lack of harvest. There is no lack of souls that need saved and lives that need transformed. The only lack is a lack of laborers to bring the harvest in. That’s the context of the passage. Can I tell you in farming that the guys who put the seed in the field are the ones who reap in the harvest at the end. When did we fall into this idea that some are solely responsible for planting, others are solely responsible for watering, and others solely responsible for reaping. If we have a generation of believers that see themselves as only planters or only waterers then we are going to have harvest dying in the fields because there is no one reaping.

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were  weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”-Matthew 9:35-38

For years the church has been praying for God to send a harvest of souls. The problem is, God already sent it. Here we are waiting for a harvest that is already, according to Jesus, ripened and ready to be reaped. It’s not a harvest problem. It’s a laborer problem. 

It’s a problem with no one wanting to do the hard work of reaping souls. Jesus looked at the multitudes and basically said, “I can’t reach all these people by myself. I need your help to bring in the harvest.” 

The next big event on our Christian calendar is Easter (Resurrection Sunday). Interestingly, enough, it is four months from now. A lot of churches will begin preparing themselves for it soon, as it is the most attended church service of the year.  The question is how many souls are going to be lost over the next four months as we wait for it. Everyday that goes by, people are passing into eternity. What are we going to do about it? 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church