“Then he said to his disciples, “‘This harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
~ Matthew 9:37
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever seen a wheat field that is ready to be harvested? Do you know what wheat looks like when it is ready to be harvested? Wheat that is ready to be harvested looks golden white. Do you know what corn looks like when it is ready to be harvested? Do you know what oats or barley or flax or soybeans or . . . looks like when each one of these crops is ready to be harvested? Your grandpaa’s dad was a farmer who used about 160 acres of the little over 200 acres of land that he owned for growing crops. When your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa’s dad grew mostly corn and oats. Your grandpaa’s dad also grew at one time or another flax, barley, wheat, sorghum, alfalfa and potatoes. The farmer who is now sharecropping your grandpaa’s dad’s farm plants soybeans as one of the crops that he grows. Would you like to be a farmer one day? Would you know when to plant wheat? Would you know when to plant soybeans? Would you know when to plant corn or oats or flax or barley or potatoes or . . . would you know how to plant wheat? Would you know how to plant soybeans? Would you know how to plant oats or barley or flax or corn or potatoes or . . . why do you think that your grandpaa’s dad raised mainly corn and oats on the farm where your grandpaa grew up on as a kid? Matthew – in the missive that he wrote as a Jew to guys and gals who were Jews about a guy who was a Jew, repeats in Matthew 9 what Jesus said about a harvest. Verse 37 says, “Then he said to his disciples, “‘This harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Do you know who Jesus’ disciples were? One of Jesus’ disciples was Matthew. Matthew personally heard Jesus talking about a harvest. Do you know what kind of harvest that Jesus was talking about? Jesus was talking about all the guys, gals and kids who were around Him who were ready to be harvested. A guy, gal or kid who is ready to be harvested is a guy, gal or kid who is ready to make a decision of faith to believe in what Jesus did while He was on planet Earth as an incarnated guy when He died on a crude cross for the sins of guys, gals and kids who accept by faith that He is God’s Son.
Do you know how it happens that a field of . . . is ready or ripe to be harvested? Does a field of . . . that is ready or ripe to be harvested just happen? You are a field. Are you a ready or ripe harvest? God – as God the Son, saw a guy, gal or kid as a crop in a field that is ready or ripe to be harvested. God – as God the Son, also saw a guy, gal or kid as a field where His Word – as a seed, is to be planted. God – as God the Son, saw a guy, gal or kid as a field – where His Word has been planted, has taken root and is growing and maturing, that is to be cared for and watered. God – as God the Son, while He was on planet Earth, spent over two years enabling twelve guys to go into the ready or ripened fields of guys, gals and kids who are waiting to be harvested, to harvest these guys, gals and kids into the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ. Do you know what a farmer has to do each year if he wants to have a good harvest? A farmer – like your grandpaa’s dad, knew the land that he farmed. Your grandpaa’s dad knew that he had to grow crops – like corn and oats, for the animals – the cows. pigs and chickens, that he had on his farm. Your grandpaa’s dad divided the land that he farmed into fields. Your grandpaa’s dad planted different kinds of seeds – like corn or oats, in different fields. Your grandpaa’s dad knew when it was the best time of the year to plant each different kind of seed. Your grandpaa’s dad knew how to prepare the soil for planting and how to plant each different seed. Your grandpaa’s dad knew how to cultivate the soil and how to take care of each different kind of crop that he grew on his farm. Do you know when the best time is to plant corn? Do you know when the best time is to plant oats? Do you know a kid who you would like to make a field to plant God’s Word seed? Do you know when the best time is to plant God’s Word seed in the kid’s life? Do you know how to help God’s Word seed grow in the kid’s life? Do you know how to harvest God’s Word seed that has grown and ripened in the kid’s life?
There is no one single best way for getting a field – another kid’s life, ready for God’s Word seed to be planted in it. There is no one single best way of planting a field – another kid’s life, with God’s Word seed. There is no one single best way of caring for a field – another kid’s life, of God’s Word maturing plant. There is no one single best way of harvesting a field – another kid’s life, where God’s Word seed is ready and ripe to be harvested. There is no one single best way of storing a harvest from a field – another kid’s life, which is God’s Word seed that will be used to replant in another field – another kid’s life. While He was on planet Earth, Jesus – God the Son, used real life life lessons to teach His disciples how to and where to plant God’s Word seed. Jesus gave a real life life lesson the day when He called Matthew to be one of his disciples. Jesus went to Matthew’s house on that day to eat and to interact with the tax collectors who were at Matthew’s house. Jesus personally forgave the sins of a guy or gal – after He had healed the guy or gal of whatever it was that was ailing him or her. Jesus expected the message that He was teaching to be accepted as something new to believe in versus continuing to believe in the old message of needing to live a life that was filled with works through trying to live out the Old Testament Law. Jesus taught that believing in Him was like using a new wineskin that was made out of goat skins. Putting new wine in an old wineskin will cause an old wineskin to break as the new wine fermented. Jesus teaching point here was that living a life of works through the Old Testament Laws would not work for a guy, gal or kid who makes a decision to live by faith in Him. Jesus cares for the guys, gals and kids who believe in Him. How much has God’s Word seed grown by now in your lives?
Matthew 9 (319)