Harvest Aplenty

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 – “To every thing there is a season, … a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”

Summer’s gone – fall is here. Traditionally the fall of the year is considered the time of harvest. It’s time to harvest that crop which was planted in the summer months. To the child of God, harvest represents something else.

Whether we look to God for His harvest or to ourselves – within ourselves – the harvest most assuredly will come. We see that God provides a time of harvest – physical harvest. Look at Genesis 8:22 – “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest … shall not cease.” The Bible often speaks of the former rains and the latter rains and the time of planting and the time of harvest. Though the earth has been marred by the sin of man, God has promised “seedtime and harvest” in this physical earth.

But the Bible also speaks of a spiritual harvest. Galatians 6:7-9 tells us, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Sin will always produce a harvest – a harvest of corruption – and the harvest of sin will produce an end that will not be pleasing.

But the Gospel will also produce a harvest – a harvest of everlasting life. In John 4:35, Christ tells his disciples, “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” He was telling them that the time to harvest the souls of precious men had come. It was time to get busy and spread the Gospel of salvation, as He had just done with the woman at the well. He had told her of the great Gospel of Christ and she had been born again – and not only her, but she had told everyone she met and had brought many others to Christ.

The time is now – for the harvest of judgment is nigh at hand. Matthew 13:39 tells us, "The harvest is the end of the age." And the end of the age is close – one day soon Christ will return to take us home to be with Him, and then it will be too late to spread the Gospel. So “Now is the accepted time; … now is the day of salvation.” Spread the “good news” of the Gospel now, while men can still be reached. Let us follow the example that Christ set for us as He told the Samaritan woman of God’s salvation. Let us tell it far and near and bring in that harvest.

The harvest dawn is near,

The year delays not long;

And he who sows with many a tear

Shall reap with many a song.

Sad to his toil he goes,

His seed with weeping leaves;

But he shall come at twilight's close,

And bring his golden sheaves.

--Burgess

Quote – “The world is full of proofs of his goodness. Every rising sun, every falling shower, every revolving season certifies his faithfulness.” – C. H. Spurgeon

Autumn Gold

Jeremiah 8:20 – “The summer is ended.”

Yes the summer is ended – winter is approaching – days are getting shorter – nights are getting longer. There are fall festivals galore – festivals to celebrate the harvest. Farmer have put away their planters and their cultivators and are getting out their harvesting tools – their reapers – their sickles – their scythes. Then after the harvest, they will harrow their fields, making ready for their spring planting after the long sleepy winter. Fall is that transitional time between summer and winter. The trees turn beautiful shades of color and begin to shed their leaves to make a rich humus to feed the earth.

Fall represents that time in peoples’ lives when they have reached the peak of life and begin their descent down the other side – middle age if you will. The kids have grown up and moved on with their own lives, concentrating on their careers, looking to their own families for nurturing rather than to mom and dad. It’s the transitional time between the summer years of raising a family and the golden winter years of seniority.

Fall also represents that time in spiritual life of paying for the deeds done in the flesh – the time of harvest. Sowing has been long gone – did we sow good seed or bad seed? – did we sow to the flesh or to the Spirit? – now it’s time to reap what we’ve sown. For after the harvest comes the time of harrowing – breaking up the ground – the time of judgment. What shall be your harvest?

Autumn Gold

Fall is the time of year when all the earth
Begins to take on a new look.
We all admire the beauty of the leaves –
The wonderful reds and golds –
As we drive through hills of splendor.
We relish the scenes of golden sheaves,
Of glorious sprays of autumn grains,
Of bushel baskets filled with fruit
Of a wondrous, plenteous autumn harvest.

Children are all decked out in new fineries
As they return to the rigors of scholarly pursuits.
They soon transform into ghouls and goblins
Roaming the lanes, begging for treats.
Football games and fall festivals
Become the order of shortened, nippy days.
Roasted turkey and pumpkin pie assist us
As we pause to give thanks for blessings divine.
No value can be placed on this Autumn Gold.
© 2006 Paul Stultz

Quote - "God is true to his promise. Despite the dreary winter and the damp spring, autumn has come with its golden grain." – C. H. Spurgeon

It's Springtime

Song of Solomon 2:11-12 – “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;”

Yes, it’s springtime in my soul. It’s the season of new growth – of rebirth. It’s the season when the doldrums of winter are left behind – life springs anew. There’s babbling brooks – rushing rivers – mighty currents spring forth from the melting of the winter snows. There’s the robin redbreast singing his new song – there’s the budding of trees – there’s the blooming of flowers. It’s springtime!

But you know, for the child of God, it’s always springtime. We don’t need the vernal equinox to supply us with streams of water. For within us flows that River of Life – “For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert (Isa 35:6).” Christ calls it in John 4:14 living water – “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” To the Christian, there are no winter doldrums. We have the eternal Son of God lighting up our soul. John 1:9, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” To the child of God, there is no darkness. 1 John 1:5, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

We don’t need trees and flowers to see new life. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).” He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10).” He said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).” In Christ is everlasting life – eternal life – abundant life. That’s life everlasting – no death – no dormant state – no winter – ever again! Who needs springtime?!?

Springtime

Much can be said of the wonders of springtime,
All of which has been repeated time and time again –
The brightly colored blossoms –
The freshness of newly budding trees –
The beauty of tiny tender shoots of grass
Springing up in the meadows –
The song of the red-breasted robin
Just returned from its long migration –
The buzzing of new life all around.

Yes the vernal equinox ushers in a glorious spectacle.
The busy bees traverse from bloom to bloom
Gathering the sweet floral nectar,
Spreading about more springtime as they go.
The air is so fresh and pure after the long cold winter
That it fills the lungs with its freshness
Till it seems that they may burst with excitement.
One could only wish to gulp in enough springtime
To last a lifetime.
© 2006 Paul Stultz

Quote – “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” – Martin Luther

Winter's Special Warmth

John 10:22 – “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.”

Today is the first day of winter, the winter solstice – actually the exact time of the winter solstice for 2006 was last night at 7:22 pm – but the calendar is set by Universal Time or Greenwich Mean Time and 7:22 last night was 12:22 am on December 22 GMT – but who’s going to quibble over a few hours difference.

But what that means to us is that it is the shortest day of the year – on average about 9 hours of daylight from sunrise to sunset. According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, “Passing seasons change the habits and moods of people. Around November and December in the northern hemisphere, a gloominess nicknamed ‘winter blues’, ‘February blahs’, ‘Holiday depression’, or doldrums, is informally noted amongst people. The severest cases of this type of depression is diagnosed as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Symptoms include sleeping more, tiredness, depression, and physical aches. Although causes include genetic disposition and stress, the prevailing environmental influence is decreased exposure to light due to winter weather patterns and the increased amount of clothing that must be worn to keep warm.”

And it is true, that in the bleakness of winter, we tend to get blue. But we must remember that in spite of the psychologists of this world and their predictions of gloom and doom during the winter months, as a child of God, we can always bask in the Sonlight of God’s love. We never have to allow short hours of daylight to have a dimming effect on our disposition. Let us rejoice! We have the king of glory as our Father!

Winter’s Special Warmth

Winter brings to our lives cold blasts of fury.
Days grow short and nights draw out –
Daylight comes and goes so quickly.
The grass has faded, the flowers withered,
The trees, having shed their leaves,
Stand like morbid specters in the wintry gloom.
There’s a chill in the air that reaches the very soul.
It’s as if all nature has died
And glumly awaits spring’s resurrecting power.

Yet we can also see winter as a time of possibilities.
The crispness of the morning air cleanses our lungs.
The smell of mothballs permeates the air as we
Pull out coats and long johns from their storage.
We hear the gleeful cheers of children at the first snow.
We enjoy the festivities of the holiday seasons.
We find a special warmth in snuggling up to those we love
Sitting by a cozy fire on a snowy evening.
We glow in that special feeling of affection.
© 2006 Paul Stultz