The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. – Matthew 9:37
They stand at attention in tight little rows, soldiers in the fight against take-out. I pop into the cold storage that sits against the hillside next to our home and survey the troops. It has taken many hours of hard work, but I am proud of the bounty for which I have fought: jars of tender tomatoes for chicken salsa and Stevens stew, golden pie filling for steamy holiday pies, festive pink cinnamon applesauce for warm winter cookies.
Suzy Homemaker is alive and well in my kitchen.
The rash of productivity has been inspired by an abundant apple crop in our little orchard this year. Three small trees outdid themselves, bearing such heavy branches of fruit we had to prop some of them up until harvest. We literally picked wheelbarrows full of apples.
After weeks of canning, the glow is beginning to wear off. Suzy is tired. My sixty-year-old bones clatter in a collective groan. Other projects await my attention. I went out to the barn yesterday to see how many boxes I have left to can.
I was shocked. It looks as if I haven’t even touched the stack. My cup runneth over. And over.
So the canning will continue. We can’t let the harvest go to waste. It represents hours of my husband’s hard work pruning, watering, spraying, and picking those apples. If I don’t take care of them, they will rot and wind up food for the wild things that wander our property.
I will work, and we will eat pie.
Beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. – Matthew 9:38
I used to wonder why Jesus used such a strong word as “beseech.” He didn’t tell His disciples to ask for workers, or to request workers. He used a word that described intense urgency and longing. Beseech.
The world is God’s field. Every soul belongs in his harvest. He is more than unwilling that none should perish. His great heart breaks each time someone is lost. It is His will that we all have that same sense of urgency. What could be more important than the preservation of a human soul for eternity? How can we walk on by and ignore His plea?
He yearns for us to care so much that we will put aside our own pursuits and get to work. He wants us to realize those that lie dying on the vine and earnestly pray as we labor alongside Him. Otherwise the fruit for which He has toiled will go to the creatures of the night.
Let’s prioritize our life for the work to which He has called us. The harvest is ripe, the weather is fickle, and there’s no time to waste. Look to the fields around us. Outside our doors lies a world about to rot.
Work and pray. What can you do this week to save a precious life?