Daily Wisdom

"And herein is that saying true, one soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; other men labored, and ye are entered into their labours."  Jn 4:37-38

It's very easy to get caught up in the "go big or go home" mentality.  This can also creep into the church and our Christian walk.  Almost every story you hear of church planting success is of how a gifted leader started with almost nothing and then the congregation just blew up overnight. Seldom do we hear a leader share about long years of faithful labor with little initial fruit, but how God was still at work; regardless of the numbers.  Such was the life and ministry of Jeremiah.

In John 4, Jesus wants the disciples to know that the spiritual harvest they were experiencing was the result of a long-term process and the labor of others.  Others had gone before them, tilling the ground, planting the seed and watering the soil; and now they were witnessing the harvest.  We can get caught up in the "reaping" as the disciples probably were.  This can happen in our ministry circles, or even with friends that we hope will come to see the saving grace of Jesus.  We often focus on the harvest as opposed to the tilling, sowing, watering, and cultivating that must occur before we reap.  In other words, we are more interested in the end result and not as much as the experience that comes before. This can also cause us to be discouraged when we don't see quick results in our ministry.  However, we can be encouraged by Jesus' words and realize that the work we are doing now will bring a harvest, even if we aren't there to be a part of it.

Farmers quote: "Your corn is ripe today; mine will be so tomorrow."  This is profitable for us all, while we labor with another today, another will labor with us tomorrow; knowing God will give the increase. (1 Cor 3:6)

HSAY...Todd