June 14....the fields are shining for harvest

John 4:35 “Listen to what I say: open your eyes and see! The fields are shining for harvest.” (NAB)

“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (NIV)

“But I tell you to open your eyes and look at the fields….they are gleaming white, all ready for the harvest.” (Phillips)

Heavenly Father,
Much of this focus on prayer has been “listen” or “open your ears.” Now we are told to “open our eyes.” To pray effectively in your Spirit, we need an awareness of the world around us, and the condition of the people we meet each day. We are to see the fields that are “ripe for harvest”. Seeing is more than just being intellectually aware of something. It is experiencing it first hand. To see as well as to hear, we have to get close. We have to use our senses. I always thought the philosophical question about….”if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around, does it make a sound?”……was a silly question! Of course it does! Not hearing it, or closing our ears to something, doesn’t stop it from happening. Sight is the same….we can “close our eyes” to God’s work, but the harvest is still there. Jesus says, “open your eyes”…..look at it! See and understand what is there to be done! Jesus also tells us in Luke 10:2 and Matthew 9:38 that “the harvesters are few, pray to the Lord of the harvest…….”. We often are overwhelmed at the sight of the fields of harvest. We feel defeated before we began….too many of them, too much to do! But we don’t work alone an aren’t responsible for the entire harvest by ourselves! We are to “pray to the Lord of the harvest”. God is in charge….it’s His field, His harvest. Our duty is to pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers. He will provide what is needed. He will equip those who he sends to harvest. He will allow us to “see” our field and how to work in it. We can hack a patch here and there or we can systematically work a large section…..either way the Lord of the Harvest is directing things. Jesus says that the sower and the reaper work hand in hand. Our job as the Body of Christ is to first “look” and “listen”…..than pray. Move into the fields, get close, see the possibilities, share Christ’s vision, work in Christ’s power, bring in the gleaming fields of spiritual grain. Jesus saw ripe fields…..acres and acres of souls…..and he guarantees the harvest with his blood of redemption. Thank you, Lord of the Harvest! I pray for workers and a full harvest! Amen.