Throughout the Bible, The Lord uses agricultural examples to paint word pictures of His will and His ways. Some of the most powerful of these pictures are those of harvesting. God teaches us about the harvesting of souls for eternal life in heaven.
- John 4:35-36 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! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
- He also teaches us about the harvesting of souls that will experience His wrath (see Revelation 14).
The spiritual harvest of a Christian occurs at the moment of their understanding, belief and acceptance of the free gift of salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and Ephesians 1:13). But before the harvest, a seed must be sown, the seed must be watered, and the seed must die, grow and be guaranteed to bring forth fruit. The Lord of the harvest allows His children to participate in this glorious process. Christians are laborers in God’s field.
Sowing
- Mark 4:3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
- Mark 4:14 The sower sows the word.
- John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
- The Word of God must be sown in the heart of an unbeliever. A person must understand the truth about who Jesus is and what He did (died for the sins of the world) to be saved from God’s wrath against sin. The truth about Jesus is the only way to God. We are commanded to go and share this truth (see the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20).
Watering
- Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
- 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
- 2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
- John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
- The way we live, the things we say about Jesus, and the authority and responsibility to share the truth about God waters the seeds that are planted.
Dying/Growing/Bearing
- 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
- Mark 4:20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
- Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
- 1 Corinthians 15:36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
- Salvation in Jesus Christ is a glorious gift from God. Only He can make the seed of His Word grow in the heart of an unbeliever. And each one that hears and accepts the truth will bear some amount of fruit. We are spiritually raised from the dead in Christ when we accept Him as Savior. We receive our eternal body after our earthly body dies and Christ returns to claim His bride.
Harvesting
- Psalm 107:1-3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, 3 And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.
- Luke 10:2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
- Pray that God will use every Christian to plant and water seeds, and that He will send laborers to participate in the harvest.
Celebrating
- Luke 15:7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
- Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
- There is a joyous celebration in Heaven each time a person confesses Christ, repents of their sins and becomes a follower of Jesus.
I pray for the harvest;
Lord, put me to work in Your field!
Prayer
Holy Father in Heaven, use Your children to plant and water the seeds of truth in this lost and dying world. Give the increase by the gift of faith. Draw sinners to Yourself for eternal life. May the harvest be great and the Heavenly celebration be endless! I praise You and love You and ask these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
