September-October 2025

​This year, I have neglected my garden.  Though it has been a plentiful year with an abundance of cucumbers, tomatoes, and broccoli, I haven’t kept up with harvesting them. This has been because of a lack of time, I have put forth the effort.  It has been hot, but really I’ve had no excuse except laziness. 
 
Tomatoes are rotting on the vines, the beans lost their freshness, and the cucumbers have became behemoths.  I feel bad at all the waste, but I have no one else to blame but myself. Have you been like me?
 
Can this be an analogy for our harvest of souls, too?  Ouch!  That’s convicting, or at least it should be.  There are a lot of factors that affect our evangelizing efforts, just like our gardens.  Sometimes, they are not always right, but there are times when the time is right and we are too busy, too afraid, and even too weary.  Jesus said this about this reality.
 
Matthew 9:26-38: 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
 
Evangelism is a daunting task that can paralyzing.   Why? Maybe it’s because we are not taking the first step in the harvest process – PRAYER.  Jesus said to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send us!  Jesus is saying that it is with God’s guidance through His Holy Spirit that we can put forth the effort and find success.  We can’t let our fear of rejection and the feelings of inadequacy keep us from doing the Lord’s work because he has promised to lead us.  
 
The harvest is His, not ours.  We are only to reap what He has readied.  Yes, there will be those who are not ready yet, but they still will require encouragement.  Jesus said the fields are plentiful, meaning that they are ripe for the harvester.  He will show us the fruit, all we have to put forth the effort and bring in the harvest.
 
Don’t be hindered.  Let God empower us and motivate us because the time to harvest is now!  There is much at stake!