Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful. The main need at the time was workers for harvesting. This means that many people were ready to hear Jesus’ message, receive it and him.
If the harvest is plentiful, that means there has been a lot of work cultivating, planting, weeding, watering, fertilizing and pruning. A lot of work has gone into the fields, or garden, to get ready for the harvest.
When we look at evangelistic activities currently – methods of gospel sharing, crusades, calls-forward – these are all harvest activities. Let us understand. We need harvest activities. But we also need planting activities. We also need watering activities. We don’t see those activities. They are not popular. They are not public. But if they are not done, there will be no harvest.
The apostles “harvested” 3000 souls early in their ministry, and several more thousand a few days later, because Jesus had been working the ground and the fields for the previous three years. Jesus himself did not harvest nearly so many. There 120 in the upper room. And 500 witnesses of the resurrection. Are these the greater works that Jesus mentioned? And if Jesus spent most of his time preparing for harvest, which activity is more important? I would say the answer to that question is “neither.”
If the harvest is plentiful, that means there has been a lot of work cultivating, planting, weeding, watering, fertilizing and pruning. A lot of work has gone into the fields, or garden, to get ready for the harvest.
When we look at evangelistic activities currently – methods of gospel sharing, crusades, calls-forward – these are all harvest activities. Let us understand. We need harvest activities. But we also need planting activities. We also need watering activities. We don’t see those activities. They are not popular. They are not public. But if they are not done, there will be no harvest.
The apostles “harvested” 3000 souls early in their ministry, and several more thousand a few days later, because Jesus had been working the ground and the fields for the previous three years. Jesus himself did not harvest nearly so many. There 120 in the upper room. And 500 witnesses of the resurrection. Are these the greater works that Jesus mentioned? And if Jesus spent most of his time preparing for harvest, which activity is more important? I would say the answer to that question is “neither.”
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