Opportunity, right under our nose

Whenever we’re looking for something, why is it so hard to see that it’s sitting on the counter?  Or at the front of the shelf in the fridge, staring us in the face? 

We can be so intent in our search for something that we fail to notice our goal is not that difficult to find.  Apparently, I’m not the only one!  Because Jesus’ disciples also suffered from far-sightedness.

On their journey from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north, they stopped at a well outside of a town called Sychar.  Jesus stayed at the well to rest and sent the disciples into town to purchase food. When they returned from Sychar, Jesus refused their food and explained to them that He was going to delay eating, due to the task at hand.  However, they didn’t understand why.  So, Jesus used a farming analogy to help them understand:

John 4:35-38
“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’?  Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.  The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.  For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’  I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest – This was likely a common cultural phrase which cites the amount of time a farmer must wait before he started gathering the useful food.  It could easily be used as a proverb instructing the Jews to be patient and wait for a desired outcome.  Plants have obvious characteristics that demonstrate their fruit is ripe and ready.  Those tell-tale signs of development are what the farmer watches for to know that harvest time has finally arrived. 

The disciples had not sowed Jesus’ message among the outsiders in Samaria.  As such, they may have assumed that these people would not be ready to accept Jesus’ offer of eternal life or be allowed to participate in His coming kingdom.  After all, Samaritans were not accepted as part of Israel.  The combination of their mixed history and ignorance of God’s prophecies would appear to exclude them from being ready to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.  I’m sure that the disciples expected to just eat in this town and then keep moving on their journey so they could preach the good news to the Jews living in Galilee.

In contrast, and certainly to their surprise, Jesus tells the disciples that harvest time for the Samaritans was happening now.

Jesus cautioned them against falling back on the farming proverb in this situation, telling them to open your eyes to the harvest of people around them.  It can be difficult for us to admit, but us believers can sometimes be blind to the work in front of us.  Planning for church services and future events is necessary and important, but we cannot overlook harvest work among those around us every day.

Here, in this small section of Scripture, we find a command from Jesus for all of us to obey – Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

As such, we need to ask ourselves: Am I missing opportunities to share Jesus with others because I’m overlooking the obvious? 

Don’t write someone off because they don’t “look ready” to you.  Love them like Jesus loves you.  Talk to them the way Jesus talks to you.  You may be surprised at the harvest, right in front of you.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Praying to the Lord of the Harvest

Later on in his ministry, Jesus would send heralds ahead of Him to prepare the town for His teaching.  Whether the townspeople accepted the heralds or not, their message was to be the same: The kingdom of God has come near you.  The goal of this preparation work was very similar to John the Baptist’s mission to prepare hearts and minds for when the Messiah would arrive.

Jesus gave these followers specific instructions on how to carry out their portion of His ministry.  We’re going to focus in on just one part of the instructions they received.

Luke 10:1-2 After this, the Lord appointed 70 others, and He sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go.  He told them: “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.  Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Harvest time was always a joyous time in Jewish society.  Much work needed to be done, but the benefits were well worth the effort.  Hearts were ready to receive the good news of the Messiah’s arrival, but someone had to get the word out to them.  Those who were willing to spread the message had a significantly large task ahead of them.  In comparison to the task at hand, there were too few workers.

Jesus’ first direction to the 70 was to pray that God would send out even more workers to help spread the good news of Jesus’ arrival, to bring in the abundant harvest of those who would respond and belong to God.  The 70 were going to need all the help they could get!

Jesus’ directions to the 70 heralds was very similar to what He has previously taught to the 12 disciples.  While journeying through Samaria, Jesus spoke to a woman at Jacob’s well and told her that He was the Messiah.  She immediately ran back to her village to tell others.  While she was gone, the disciples urged Jesus to eat…but as the Samaritans made their way toward Jesus and His disciples, He used their arrival as a teaching moment:

John 4:34-35 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them.  “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’?  Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest.”

Our application is to do the same – open our eyes, see their need, and participate in the harvest.  There is more work to be done than we can handle on our own.  So ask God to send out even more workers…the benefits of this work is worth it because this harvest is of eternal value.

Keep Pressing,
Ken