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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, encouragement, fields, fields of harvest, fruit, fruit in the field, fruit on the vine, harvest fields, Lord of the harvest, our field of harvest, perspective, salvation, some have watered, souls, sowing seed, surrender, white unto harvest
Last week I blogged about a lesson I was learning while in the blackberry patch behind our house. Something I didn’t explain was that if my husband hadn’t pointed the vines out to me, I would have never seen them. We were trekking along through the field and I was yammering on and on about something and he said, “Hey, look at this.” Lo, and behold, a few blackberries were ripe and sweet and quickly gobbled up. We looked around and realized that a lot more were starting to turn and this began my family’s blackberry journey for the season. If my husband hadn’t said anything, our summer would not have been filled with fruit. It would have just been business as usual.
Throughout the picking season, I have been so grateful to my man for seeing the fruit that I had missed. I never dreamed there were berries to be harvested in a place we had never tended. I didn’t even know where to look. But, he saw the fruit and helped me to see it as well.
As I’ve pondered this over the last week, I realized that our Savior points out the same thing to us in John 4:35. He says, “…Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” He is pointing out ripe berries that we would otherwise be oblivious to. This passage in John goes on to say in verses 37 and 38, “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
I didn’t realize there were berries behind our house because I hadn’t planted berries behind our house. I didn’t expect fruit since I had never labored in that field. I wasn’t ready for the harvest simply because I didn’t know the fruit was there. I didn’t see it. Jesus is telling us that there is fruit to be harvested we just have to realize it and go get it.
Do you remember from last week that it was hard for me to see some of the berries until I was on my knees? I think no matter which lesson I am learning in the blackberry patch, that lesson will always apply. When my perspective is right, when I am on my knees, I see the fruit ready to be harvested. Otherwise, all I will see is briers and weeds. The entanglements of this world will always cloud my vision until I am in full surrender to Him. I need His eyes to see the fields that are ready to receive Him.
I know it’s hard to believe that there is fruit to be gathered from places that we have not labored, but we must realize that others have labored there. Generations have prayed, sowed numerous seeds and watered the fields. All we are being asked to do is bring in the harvest. I realize that the fruit is often hard to see. I realize that when we look into our own back fields, we often only see overgrowth, thorns and unripe fruit. But, when we are in full surrender, the Lord of the Harvest shows us just where to go and what fruit is ready. Let’s not let it die on the vine.
So, this is where I’m at. I’m asking God to help me to see the fields that are white unto harvest. I’m asking for business as usual to stop. I’m asking for laborers to work in those fields (Matthew 9:38).I’m offering myself for the work and I’m praying for others to see the fruit as well. After all, what good is a berry patch, a peach grove, or souls that are ready to accept Christ if there is no one is pick, gather, or lead? God assures us that the harvest is there, we just need to lift up our eyes and see it.
A Seeking Heart 