The thing about harvest time

John 4:27-42

Harvest season is such a wonderful metaphor of our call to share the Gospel with others. With that metaphor, however, comes an urgency that I think is easy for us to conveniently ignore. Have you ever waited too long to pick the fruit from a fruit tree? It's no longer on the tree; it's on the ground. The harvest is a season. We often have a small window of time to act, and once that window has passed, there is no going back and the fruit is no longer fit to harvest. We have a limited time to let God work through us. Yes, one lifetime, but it's hard to think in terms of a lifetime. Let's think in terms of one day, one person, one moment even.

We often have one chance to share the Gospel with someone. We may never have that chance again. Hopefully we have more than one chance, especially if we are talking about someone with whom we have a friendship, but I have often found that I will have the opportunity to share with someone that I may never see again in this life. Even if it is a close friend, family member, or co-worker, it is sometimes a rare moment when the right atmosphere, conversation, or situation presents itself for us to share our faith. What I'm saying is when that moment comes, seize it! Before we know it, the moment will be gone, and we may or may not have another chance like that one.

Because Jesus took the time right then to reach one person, one Samaritan women, a door was opened, and he was able to reach her whole village. No effort to honor Christ with our lives and to proclaim the Gospel goes unnoticed by God. We may not feel like we reach a whole village every time we stop and help a person in need, share our heart about what God is doing in our lives, or take a leap of faith and invite someone to know Christ; but that is God handing us an opportunity to serve him by letting him use us to further the work he has previously done in someone's heart.

The idea of evangelism can be really overwhelming and intimidating for anyone at first. Start with one person. Take a leap of faith and share your heart with one person. Let God use you to harvest the faith growing in someone's heart, and you may just find that even though you didn't have the perfect words, get the perfect response, or see immediate results, you know deep down that God is saying; "well done my good and faithful servant; the best is yet to come".