Fall is in the air. I love autumn days – especially the mornings. The blazing heat of summer is finally being edged out by the cool nights. The trees put on their party clothes to celebrate a well lived summer. And, in comes the harvest.
Autumn brings to conclusion the end of the growing season. The harvest of fruits and gardens is the thought of the day. For many, it’s canning season, for some, it’s time to start the new wine. For all, it’s a time to contemplate the coming winter.
John 4:35 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!
Yeshua gave a strong warning to His disciples that we need to look at the fields – look at them because they are ready for harvest. The season in the Kingdom of God – right now - is a season of harvest.
Countless preachers, teachers and pontificators have broached the subject of going out and reaching those lost souls that are out in the world, without hope in their sins. I applaud their intentions, and much of their effort. If not for those messages of hope to the lost, how many would be in God’s Word today? But, I want to ask a different question. How many of God’s people – those that “have decided to follow Jesus“, as the old hymn goes, realize the season in which we live today?
Isaiah 56:12 “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.”
Isaiah warns us of some folks that have been lazy, and ignorant (they haven’t been looking at the fields, and wouldn’t understand what they saw anyway) and would lead us to believe that things will continue as they have. “Today is good, but tomorrow will even better!”, they say.
I have a message for you. Listen to the Words of Messiah. Look at the fields – they are ready for harvest. After the harvest comes the winter – a time when there will be no planting or harvesting. As my grandmother would say, we need to make hay while the sun is shining. In other words, what are we doing today to make sure that the harvest is not left in the field? What are we doing to be ready for the winter? Are we storing up for the days to come? (Some may take that literal, some spiritual. I say take your pick, limit of two.)
Matthew 6:33-34
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Again, the Words of Yeshua give us instruction. In the verses above, “Therefore”, it says. What is that “therefore” there for? It’s there because we are to have sought FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness! Then having done that today, we have no need to worry about tomorrow. I venture to say, if we have not sought His kingdom and His righteousness, perhaps you should worry about tomorrow.
So, what do we need to do today that we need not worry about tomorrow? What does it mean to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness? In Part, the Psalmist tells us:
Psalm 90:12
So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
