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September 1, 2008
Prepare for the Harvest
by Carol Custer
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest (John 4:35).
As a child, I can remember the threshing machine co-op and the neighbors that came to harvest the grain that our family had planted in the spring. There was an urgency to the job, because as soon as the grain is ripe, it needs to be harvested. It was not just the men and boys that worked to accomplish the harvest. All of the mothers and daughters came to help feed the threshing crew of about 20 men.
The women and children carried fruits and vegetables harvested fresh from their gardens and prepared the meal at the site. There were potatoes to peel, peas to shell and green beans to snap as well as corn to husk. Others brought homemade bread, fried chicken, lemonade and iced tea, cherry and apple pie, and homemade ice cream.
In my GrandpaÕs front yard under the trees we set up saw horses and planks covered with oil cloth material. The ladies set plates and utensils on the table and made it look festive with a vase of flowers.
The men would cut the grain and tie it in large bundles, and others with horse-drawn wagons would load the bundles and take them to the threshing machine. Everyone worked until the whole job was done in one day. The crew then moved to every farm in the area to bring in the harvest.
When I think of all of the preparation that went into those Harvest Days, I wonder if we really have a vision of the harvest of souls that we can reach in our world. Everyone worked and prepared for the harvest just at the right time.
In the verse above, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the fields are already white to harvest. In other words, people are already ready and waiting to receive the Gospel. We as the LordÕs servants must work for the harvest of souls and pray the Lord will continue to send forth laborers.
Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest (Luke 10:2).