The harvest field

The end of September is traditionally a time for the Church to mark Harvest Festival, this year's celebration will look so different from previous years. However I was still drawn to the words of Jesus in John 4:34-35 thinking about harvest:

"My food" Jesus said to them, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."

This week I've been on the field, not the harvest field, but on the green grass of the football field coaching some under 11's. The squad were looking and working on the skill of 'dribbling' (no that's not drawling...that wouldn't be very COVID secure at the moment!) but working on developing the skill of moving forward with the ball close to their feet. One of the key factors here was the way the footballers needed to 'scan' or 'lift up their eyes' not just to see the danger of a defender, but to react to an attacking opportunity and then quickly take advantage of this, making the phase of play count. This scanning of course is impossible if you're looking at the floor or the ball on the ground and you simply miss what's in front of you.  

So when it comes to our Lord’s harvest, the problem isn’t that the time is far off. In fact, the time is here and the harvest is plentiful. The real problem is that there are too few workers in the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). So let's pray that we all can be people sent out into our 'fields' to have our heads up not just to see but to respond to opportunities and share the good news of Jesus this week.