The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Psalm 85:12
Sometimes the growing season seems very long. Months go by, and at times the growth of a crop seems almost imperceptible. In midsummer, the calendar seems full of weeks when storms or disease might threaten a crop, and harvesttime seems far away.
The same seems true in our lives as we seek to follow Christ. While we occasionally have seasons of rapid growth in our faith, at other times the harvest seems far away, with many obstacles and challenges to trip us up. Storms of anger sweep over us, and we speak harsh words to a spouse or a child. We wilt in the heat and drought of financial pressures, or we are tempted to cut corners as stewards of the resources God has given.
When the harvest seems so far off, we need to hear again God’s promise. True, our brokenness and sin are a reality we need to deal with. However, God has also shown us God’s own unfailing love. We are joined together in the Beloved Community of our congregation. Blessings and Graces abound in our lives. Christ journeys with us, leading us into God’s New Day. The Holy Spirit fills and empowers us. Finally, the joy of God’s abundant life and the promise of eternal life in Christ!
The psalmist invites us to “listen to what God the Lord says” and to hear God’s promise of love, renewal, resurrection, and peace! Jesus reconciles us and restores us to right relationship to God and to each other! We are people of the empty tomb; the Resurrection Folk! In Jesus, the harvest is guaranteed.
And here we are -- in the season of harvest! The fields of possibilities and opportunities are ripe and the abundance and blessing of God is and are evident. While, in some seasons of life the fruit of our lives may seem far off – we must be ready to act and harvest the opportunities of the Commonwealth of Christ. They are “at hand” as Jesus says.
Through the growing season, certain plants become mature and their fruit ripe at different times. We need to be daily checking the “fields of harvest” in our lives. The workplace, our neighborhood, the classroom, our community….in each of these places and more – God is breaking God’s Kingdom forth! Are we ready to harvest the opportunity to touch a heart, change a life, help heal the world, work for justice, love our neighbor, build up and increase the community of faith for the Cause of Christ?
“The Lord will indeed give [us] what is good.” In God’s perfect timing, our lives will yield a harvest in Christ.
Be God’s, Pastor Jim
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