“As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” (Genesis 8:22)

God gave us the moon to mark the seasons, each for its own purposes. And now the most magical of all seasons has arrived – Pumpkin Spice Season! Love it or hate it, it seems it’s here to stay, arriving as early as August now.

There are many kinds of seasons: seasons of our lives, seasons of waiting or illness, planting season, harvest season, holiday season.

Traditionally autumn is harvest season, although that really depends on the crops. But whether it’s summer, late summer or fall, one thing is true about all harvests – as soon as they’re ready we have to bring them in. We can’t leave the fruit on the vine, the stalk, the tree, or underground too long or it will spoil. If we want the fruit of our labor, we have to pause everything and harvest that crop.

In many parables, Jesus likened making disciples to planting and harvesting. But his heart for lost souls was perhaps the most evident in Matthew 9:35-38: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

This is really the first statement of the Great Commission. Jesus asks us to become migrant workers, moving from mission field to mission field harvesting souls for God’s kingdom. And we are to pray for more workers to help bring the harvest in. When the harvest is ready, there is no time to wait. We must work hard and get as much help as possible to bring in the harvest while it’s ripe. If the harvest of lost souls was ripe in Jesus’ day, how much riper is it now that the Day of the Lord draws even nearer? We don’t want to leave even one willing soul to wither on the vine.

One day we will close our eyes and harvesting season will be over. One day the Lord of the Harvest will blow the final trumpet and all reaping will stop. We will feel joy at the abundance of the fruit of our labor seeing all those in Heaven because we planted a seed, tended a sprout or harvested a crop. And we will feel regret for those we coulda, woulda or shoulda reached and didn’t. With regular mail, email, Zoom, What’s App, Facetime, and all the various social media apps, there’s never been so many ways to reach so many people without even leaving the house. And besides that, our fields right in our own community are ripe for harvest. So pray to the Lord of the Harvest and ask Him to send more workers into His fields – and ask Him to point you to the fields which you can reap. And grab a cup of Pumpkin Spice Latte on the way! 😉☕

Happy Harvesting,

Jen