“It’s still four months until
harvest’?
I tell you, open your eyes
and look at the fields!
They are ripe for harvest.”
(John 4 vs. 35)
We are in the spring of the year and our fields are softening from the winter
frost and it is getting close to planting time. Harvest will be in the fall.
That is how the world works in my upper Midwest mentality. We till, plant,
weed, water, prune and when we are lucky, we harvest. Along the way there is
wind, rain, hail, heat and all the forces of nature that we have no control
over. June and I had beautiful gardens for over twenty years and miss it a bit
every spring.
Jesus is not talking about a food harvest, his disciples are. Jesus is talking
about making converts, telling the story, inviting people to worship. To that
task there are no seasons. Hold on to that thought because there just may be
times of harvest in our churches; times when we are more invitational than
others.
There are times when we are fairly open to inviting people to worship, Easter,
Christmas, rally Sunday and many special events throughout the year. It is
fairly easy and most of us feel comfortable inviting people to join us at those
special times. However, there are 52 weeks a year and most of us hold on to our
invitations to worship way too much.
We are all proud of our faith, our congregations, and our church and are
willing to share on special occasions. We are asked to “…open your eyes and look at the fields!” Let’s ask a fiend
to join us soon.
Open your eyes and look at the fields!
Thought for Today: Many of us are members of
declining Christian churches. Today let’s think about why.
Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father, our
troubled world seems to often take control of our lives. Trouble seems to
supersede your will. Today we give thanks that in our personal world we have a
choice to follow you. We pray that we can choose to contribute to doing your
will here on earth by following Jesus teachings.
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