I love this time of year....while the state I live in is without beautiful mountains or the draw of the ocean, we contain the beauty of fields ripe for picking. I used to not have such an appreciation for corn fields and bean fields when I was younger. It wasn't until several years ago did I come to look at them a little differently. A friend who had moved here from California seem to be completely enthralled with the beauty that she saw in the fields. She arrived in Illinois at harvest time. I remember her words that she had never seen anything like it, too look out across fields, the sun hitting the golden leaves, she said it looked like gold for as far as the eye could see. Since that conversation I have looked at those fields, that seem so ordinary to me, (being I have had once in my back yard since I was born)a little differently.
I enjoy my drive each weekend to the barn where my daughter Anna and I horseback ride every Saturday. It is those peaceful moments amongst those fields that I enjoy the sight of them. Today I was reminded on our drive just the significance of the harvest. As I watched a lonely combine with one lonely farmer driving through a field bringing in his harvest, I thought about what Jesus has said about the harvest...."the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few" I had many thoughts run through my head when I was thinking about that line in the word. Especially as I watched the lone farmer. It isn't by chance that I my history class is also covering the era right after the Civil War. I was thinking back to a sad time when there was slave labor....it made me think about how many people it used to take to bring in a field. And just how far we have come to a single farmer handling acre after acre alone. It made me think of church this day and age. How it seems like we have become the "one farmer" harvesting....we sit in the pews and get fat on the hog, while we expect someone else to do the harvesting..... Honestly when is the last time any one of you have thought about just where our food comes from? I sure have a better appreciation for that lone farmer out there in the fields harvesting what will in some form end up on my table, without my work. How many of us sit at the table and not realize who is doing the actual work?
I know how difficult witnessing is. I have seen "Christian" after "Christian" cringe at the sound of the word. But you know what it really isn't that difficult. I am not talking about standing on the street corner and asking passer by's "hey you have Jesus" I am talking about our actions. Jesus calls us to one simple commandment....when we follow this commandment all the rest fall into place...."Love one another" How hard is that? I don't think it is hard at all.
I challenge any of you that have actually taken the time to read this, to take a moment and enjoy those sights around us that this wonderful season has brought to us. I also challenge you to be very deliberate about loving everyone. Maybe for some that means giving up your seat on the bus Monday morning...or offering to rake the yard of an elderly neighbor...its that simple. Ninety nine percent of the time our actions speak louder then our words.
I enjoy my drive each weekend to the barn where my daughter Anna and I horseback ride every Saturday. It is those peaceful moments amongst those fields that I enjoy the sight of them. Today I was reminded on our drive just the significance of the harvest. As I watched a lonely combine with one lonely farmer driving through a field bringing in his harvest, I thought about what Jesus has said about the harvest...."the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few" I had many thoughts run through my head when I was thinking about that line in the word. Especially as I watched the lone farmer. It isn't by chance that I my history class is also covering the era right after the Civil War. I was thinking back to a sad time when there was slave labor....it made me think about how many people it used to take to bring in a field. And just how far we have come to a single farmer handling acre after acre alone. It made me think of church this day and age. How it seems like we have become the "one farmer" harvesting....we sit in the pews and get fat on the hog, while we expect someone else to do the harvesting..... Honestly when is the last time any one of you have thought about just where our food comes from? I sure have a better appreciation for that lone farmer out there in the fields harvesting what will in some form end up on my table, without my work. How many of us sit at the table and not realize who is doing the actual work?
I know how difficult witnessing is. I have seen "Christian" after "Christian" cringe at the sound of the word. But you know what it really isn't that difficult. I am not talking about standing on the street corner and asking passer by's "hey you have Jesus" I am talking about our actions. Jesus calls us to one simple commandment....when we follow this commandment all the rest fall into place...."Love one another" How hard is that? I don't think it is hard at all.
I challenge any of you that have actually taken the time to read this, to take a moment and enjoy those sights around us that this wonderful season has brought to us. I also challenge you to be very deliberate about loving everyone. Maybe for some that means giving up your seat on the bus Monday morning...or offering to rake the yard of an elderly neighbor...its that simple. Ninety nine percent of the time our actions speak louder then our words.
1 comment:
At Least 99.5% of the time. Good word. A lot if not most of the time we miss out on the little nuggets/wealth of wisdom that God is trying to show us....unfortunately we live in a world where we are being pulled in a million different directions and we have a million voices (sometimes in our own heads) that are yelling at us to follow them.....when all we really need is to listen to God and do what he says. I'm a rambler I know it.
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