Two years ago I planted 4 little strawberry plants in our garden bed. I wasn’t a gardener really, but I knew I loved strawberries and wanted to try to grow some. The first year we maybe harvested a couple of berries off of them. We let them run wild and do their thing. The next year though…whoa! We harvested anywhere from 500-1000 berries!
I had NO idea that it would produce that much but it was such a welcome surprise. There is something so special about going out to the strawberry patch to find these little ruby treasures that are hiding in the leaves. It’s like nature’s very own treasure hunt.
This year I have been eagerly looking forward to an even bigger harvest of strawberries. The first few times the berries were ready I was really excited to go out to pick them. My youngest daughter also fell in love with picking them this year. It’s been such a sweet thing to do together.
Well, last week it rained. We missed a day of picking because of it. I knew that the next day I had to go pick berries. If I didn’t they would be lost. To be honest, I really didn’t feel like picking. It was hot. There were wasps. I just wanted to stay inside on my cozy chair. I went ahead and did it anyway. As I was picking I came to a few realizations.
Harvest takes work. It’s uncomfortable and joyful all at the same time. It requires a lot of effort. The harvest is ready but it will not matter if it is not picked. It will rot on the vine. To be honest, I didn’t really feel like bending over the strawberry patch for an hour to harvest all of the berries.
Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited about the strawberries! I have been eagerly and patiently waiting for them to be ready. They are ready today. I have to be willing to now to put in the work to reap the harvest. It can’t wait. If I procrastinate, the berries will be lost and no good.
I did end up harvesting all of the berries and it was so worth it! My back was a little sore but I was able to get two large bowls worth. 🙂 As I was picking them, I kept thinking about these verses in Matthew:
Matthew 9:36-38 AMP “36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Other translations call them laborers.
Matthew 9:37-38 ESV 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
When I looked up the Greek word for “worker” it gave the sense that these people were hard workers. This was labor. Sweat, backaches, and being uncomfortable were most likely involved.
“The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few…”
Back to the berries. 🙂 Okay so after you harvest them, you have to process them and get them ready to preserve. As I was washing them and cutting off any impurities, I felt the Lord’s presence very strongly. I starting praying in the Spirit and asked Him what He wanted to say. I heard Him say:
“Will you preserve the harvest?”
His harvest. I started to get a picture of what our Christian culture has been doing the past few decades or even more. We want to just harvest souls and then just leave them. We don’t disciple them or train them up. We just pick them and then drop them on the ground. We want to make converts but we don’t want to put in the work of teaching and training them. We want the joy of picking them but then leave them in the bowl on the counter.
We are the salt of the earth, and salt is used to flavor and preserve. Matthew 5:13.
I felt very strongly that this was the Lord’s heart. That laborers would be willing to get their hands dirty. They would be willing to be uncomfortable to work hard for the harvest. Not only to lead people to Jesus, but to disciple and train them up as well. I think that there has been a lack in the body of true discipleship. If I’m super honest, I don’t even know if we know how to disciple anymore. Yet, every last one of us is called to disciple others.
Matthew 28:19-20 AMP “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”
Prayer:
Lord, what does that look like for us? How do we fulfill this great commission? We ask that you send out workers into the harvest field. Lord help us be ready and willing to labor for you. To be ready to harvest when the time is right nonmatter how inconvenient or uncomfortable it is. Let us be quick to obey and serve you. Lord send us. Send me. Help us as parents to raise up harvesters… to raise up lovers of You. Help us know how to disciple others well. Help us to not only harvest but to preserve the harvest. I pray that what makes your heart burn Lord would make ours as well. Give us your heart for the lost Lord. Give us your vision for what true discipleship looks like. Lord we may not have all of the answers, but we are willing. We say yes Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
