There truly is no time like now when it comes to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. We who are of His true Church can sense the shortness of days and we anxiously await His soon return. Yes, we anxiously await, and hopefully we do so obediently by spreading the good news of the gospel.
“Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Luke 10:2).
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest?’ Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this 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 labors” (John 4:35-38).
He has commanded us to enter the harvest and do the work He would have us do. Not only is the harvest truly great, it is all around us. While there is nothing wrong with international mission work, with evangelizing in the far corners of the world (for the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 calls us to that).
Please realize that the harvest may be just as great out your front door and on your block, out your back door and over your fence into your neighbor’s home. The harvest truly is great and it is global; it may well start just a few mere steps from where you live.
You can be outstanding at sharing the gospel (if you seek the Lord’s strength in doing so in the Spirit) or you may just be out standing in the field; blithely ignoring the lost-ness of those around you. If you are that would cause the Spirit to be grieved:
“He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame” (Proverbs 10:5).
The time to harvest for the Lord is now before it is too late. Someone you know needs Christ desperately, reach out to them. Someone you come into contact with for the first time may have the same desperate need. Pray for the wisdom and discernment to see that need and the boldness to take part in the harvest when the Lord places you in that field to reap, possibly reaping what others have already sown in a heart growing ripe for the Lord and the prompting of the Spirit to come to a saving faith. Be the one blessed by doing the Lord’s will, don’t leave for another what the Lord has placed before your hands.
If you need any other motivating factor to be in the Lord’s harvest of salvation, think of what is one day coming:
“Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’
So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.’
So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs” (Revelation 14:14-20).
This is a harvest of judgment, terrible and final, that the Lord Himself will harvest upon His Soon Return. You should want none to be in that harvest, although there will be many. We who are of His Church will not be on the earth for this harvest, but we should not wish such a fate for anyone, it is final, it is everlasting and from it there is no further appeal for mercy or grace.
It is not that time yet, but one day it will. So let us be about the harvest of today, which the Lord has blessed us with by allowing our participation. But never forget the harvest of judgment coming in the future and thank Him for the blessing of lifting us out in the Rapture.
Be outstanding in the harvest now, not out standing in the field. Today is the day, because… Jesus is coming soon!
Even So Come
Andy Coticchio
Rafter Cross Ministries