September is a time of year that signals that end of the warm months, the growing season for most crops and the last days before the cold and wet of Winter set in. It is a time to gather together those things that have been stored for the coming months. Although our society does not think so much in these terms now as in years gone by, the Church does and should. Christ compared the world to a great harvest that was waiting for the reapers to come. "Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." (Matt 9.37-38).
The end of the growing season for those that farm, represents a time when they can sit back, plan for the next year and reflect on how things went. Christians, on the other hand, do not have the luxury of being that way. We have to realize that the harvest is ever with us and there are those that we need to try and reach. Christ sent his disciples out to teach and prepare the way for him as he traveled toward Jerusalem. In the "great commission" as we have come to know it, Christ told his disciples, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..." (Matt 28.19). Later we find that the Christians followed these instructions as well when they were scattered abroad (Acts 8.4). The Gospel cannot help anyone if it is not being heard by those who need it.
There was a parable that Christ told of the wealthy landowner who had been blessed. "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." (Luke 12.16-19)
Just as this rich landowner was content to just sit back and congratulate himself for his accomplishments, we need to be careful.
This year, particularly the Summer months, have been good. In July, Phil Norris was baptized into Christ. Just a couple of weeks ago Ron Bowling and later Nell Miller were both baptized into Christ. This is great news since we have gone for quite some without a response from anyone during a service. While we reflect on the waning days of Summer, we can acknowledge that there is no specific planting or harvest time in the lives of Christians. The seed can be planted all year. God will water and give the increase if we are willing to do what it takes to get the seed in the ground, or the hearts of those that we come into contact with. There is no time to just kick our shoes off and sit back and enjoy the efforts of a harvest at hand. As soon as we can we need to continue planting and encouraging others to do the same. The final result will be when we all will be part of the greatest harvest of all and we finally get to enter that home that we have worked for during the time that we have been on Earth. We will receive that reward as Christ has promised. The key, however, is to be working and not wasting those opportunities that come with them.
TLC