John 4:35 - 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!
Have you ever seen fields ready for harvest?
During my first year in seminary, I was required to have a mission project in the area. I chose to serve at a juvenile detention center outside of Memphis, TN. I would drive to the facility on Saturday morning and go to the cells of the clients, sharing Christ and offering counsel and friendship. I met hundreds of young men who had broken the law, been arrested and charged, and sentenced to this correctional facility. I thought of this ministry as hard and difficult. Many of the young men decided to get arrested every winter to have “three hots and a cot” for the season.
The drive from our Memphis apartment took me through cotton fields. During the harvest, the fields were white for harvest. Every plant looked so burdened with swollen cotton bowls begging to be harvested. Jesus was not talking about cotton, but the image stuck with me of fields white for harvest.
Jesus said that the harvest is ready. God did not call us to create the harvest but to work in the harvest. Some sow, others water, still others harvest. But God gives the harvest as we work in the fields. I saw God do a wonderful work over time as I built relationships and shared my faith with young men. The field was not a hard field but one ready for harvest. People are all around us waiting to receive the love of Christ and the message of the good news. Will you work in the fields today?