“Put in the sickle, for the vintage
harvest is ripe…” (Joel 3:13a AMP)
“Harvest”,
what kind of image does that word bring to mind? If you are from the Northeast of the United States
you might think of tapping maple trees for sap and firm crisp apples. If you are from Florida,
Texas, and Southern
California you might imagine fresh bright oranges, lemons, and
limes. If you are from the Bible-belt
your thoughts might turn towards irrigated crops of sugar beats and corn, and
if from our Island State of Hawaii you are probably remembering twelve foot
stalks of sugar cane and pineapples.
When
I think of “harvest” I think of the rolling hills of the Pacific
Northwest covered with the yellow and red-brown fields of wheat
and barley. I think about many of my
friends who have just now finished harvesting their wheat and barley, spending
14-16 hour days to get everything in before a chance rain brings the
moisture content too high for harvesting.
“And he said, the Kingdom of God is
like a man who scatters seed upon the ground, and then continues sleeping and
rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases – he knows
not how the earth produces (acting) by itself – first blade, then the ear, then
the full grain in the ear. But when the
grain is ripe and permits, immediately he sends forth (the reapers) and puts in
the sickle because the harvest stands ready.” Mark 4:26-29 AMP
Thinking
about harvest also makes us think about leading people to the Lord. The church is quite familiar with this
concept; we hear missionaries share that familiar verse: ”the
harvest is great, but the laborers are few”. I would like to suggest that there is yet
another harvest, the harvest of your heart.
Song of Solomon speaks of us as God’s garden and, in loving interchange,
we actually go past inviting Him into our hearts; we offer Him the “choicest
fruits” He finds there (Song of Solomon 4:12-16).
How
does someone make a garden produce the best yield? They first have to get it ready for planting
by digging up the dirt, breaking up the hardened ground so the seeds can be
planted. How do we prepare the gardens
of our hearts? We break up the hardened
areas of our lives by seeking God Himself through prayer and reading His Word.
“Break up your uncultivated ground,
for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His
favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift
of salvation upon you.” (Hosea 10:12b AMP)
We
prepare the soil by digging into the Word, but we do not have the seed. God does.
He not only provides the seed but He also provides the increase from it.
“And (God) who provides seed for the
sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your name (resources
for) sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness (which manifests
itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity).” (2
Corinthians 9:10 AMP)
So
our job is easy, break up the hardened ground:
read His Word, study it, and prayerfully consider it. When the ground is ready God will plant seeds
of righteousness and they will grow as we continue to read, study, and
prayerfully consider His Word. Then,
like the man in the Mark 4:26-29 parable, we will not know how the plants grew
in our hearts but they will produce the choicest fruits for our Lord’s delight.
