THE HARVEST IS GREAT

Jesus said, "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 9:37-38

This time of year it is easy for us to see the spiritual principles that Jesus was talking about; they are illustrated all around us as the harvest for another year is brought in. Our daughter, Rhiannon, works for a hybrid seed corn company. Right now that means long, long days of work as farmers hurry to get the harvest in while conditions are just right. Sometimes the work is monotonous. When the harvest is ready, there is no putting it off! You can't tell the corn not to dry on time. You can't tell it to wait in the field while you go shopping! When the harvest is ready, you must work!

How can we apply this to our lives as far as soul-winning goes? I was pondering that today. It seems most of us Christians have longed to be see revival most of our lives. We have prayed for it, hoped for it, worked for it. But are we ready to be a worker when the harvest is at our door? One guy in our church has humbly reminded us for years that we may not be ready if a huge harvest were to occur. Speaking of our church in particular, he has always admonished and encouraged us to prepare ourselves for the revival that we hope will come. He caused us to question whether or not we were ready to meet the needs of a number of new believers, should they suddenly be added to our ranks. New believers need attention and help. Just like a harvest, sometimes their needs can't wait while we get it together. Sometimes the work is long and monotonous!

Maybe we don't see widespread harvest because we are not ready. The Lord is certainly ready since the word says He is not willing that any should perish. We Christians need to have a plan, a dedication in ourselves that will stay the course and work the harvest as it is brought in. If churches were suddenly full, would we have the dedicated workers ready to disciple the new believers? Or are we too busy doing our own things? I would like to propose that if we are not dedicated enough to receive a harvest, possibly we are not doing the right things to reap the harvest to begin with. Ask yourself if you are mature enough yourself to help a new believer. Are there enough mature, dedicated disciples of the Lord ready to handle a large harvest?

These are thoughts to ponder as we pray. The Lord tells us that the harvest isn't the problem, it's the lack of workers. Interesting.

The above picture is the applesauce project. We finally finished earlier this week. I thought it was an appropriate pic to add to a blog about harvest. The apples are just one of the many crops being brought in right now in Michigan. That beautiful pink sauce is all natural color. The Jonathan apples mixed with Cortlands and MacIntosh made the lovely color. First we wash and core the apples, then quarter them and cook them in several pots on the stove. When they are mushy, we run them through the strainer you see in the picture. The skins go one way and the sauce comes out the other. After adding a bit of sugar, I put the finished sauce in jars, affix lids and run them through the pressure cooker. This year we got 27 quarts plus some to eat fresh! A big job done!!

Heading for the north tomorrow. Fall color report in a few days! Blessings, LORI