Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
Jesus recognised many missed opportunities as he looked at the people around him. We may well ask how do I see the crowds? Do I focus on their violence or mindless greed? But so many are like sheep without a shepherd, without direction. I am often like that myself. They call for compassion, as I do.
You see, the symbolic meaning of harvest in Scripture encompasses two main areas: God’s provision for us and God’s blessing for others. While we celebrate a harvest season just once a year, we experience the spirit of harvest all the time.
Each day that we go about our daily routine, we experience harvest. Each time we receive love from our family and those in our lives, we experience harvest. Each time we experience the closeness of God in a way that fills us spiritually, we experience harvest. Any time we are filled, we experience harvest.
Harvest then isn’t something that we experience once a year, but something that we experience on a daily basis.
This is where those words Jesus uses are so important: The harvests we experience on a daily basis don’t actually belong to us — they belong to God, because he is the Lord of the harvest, not us.
When we allow God his rightful place within our daily existence we recognise him as the Lord of our harvest. We recognise that he is the one who gave us hands to work, that he is the one who supplies our provisions, that our family is actually his family that it rightfully belongs to him.
Finally, when we recognise the Lord of the harvest for who he is in our lives, we also embrace the fact that while in part our harvest is something he gives to meet our needs, it’s also something he wants us to use to bless others.
God of harvest,
gardener supreme,
you place us at the centre,
feed us, equip us and,
having provided for us,
look to a different harvest—
a fruitfulness of lives
in service to you
and others.
God of harvest,
feed us
prune us
harvest us
that our lives
might bring glory to you. Amen
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