Harvest Eyes

Harvest Eyes

Read: John 4:27-38

“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

John 4:35

“People matter so much to God that every one warrants an all-out search.”

—Bill Hybels

IN WORD The contrast between Jesus and His disciples in this passage is stark. Jesus is busy telling a sinful woman of eternal truths. The disciples are focused on their physical needs. Jesus sets off a spark and sees a whole town ablaze with spiritual hunger. The disciples are obsessed about their daily bread. Jesus was ready to minister to people. The disciples were ready for lunchtime.

Don’t we see a similar contrast in our own lives? Sometimes we can be outward focused, seeing people’s needs and trying to meet them. More often, we are just trying to get through the day, feeding ourselves and our families, and trying to earn enough to pay the bills. We get caught up in our own agenda and neglect the more urgent needs of a hurting world—perhaps not in principle, but certainly in practice.

Jesus urges His disciples to look beyond themselves. He tells them to thrive on a different kind of food—the will of God and His passion for people who need the gospel. They are to be outward focused, filled with vision. Their ambition should be to see the gathering of the kingdom of God, not just to get through the daily grind.

IN DEED We tend to neglect the eternal purposes of God and hone in on the peripherals of life. But life isn’t about going into town to shop (John 4:8) or about lunchtime (v. 31). Those are necessities of sustaining life, not its substance. The substance of life is eternal, and we can invest it in either the kingdom or in the world. Jesus points us to His kingdom.

Are your eyes filled with visions of harvest? Do you understand why we are here? Do not be distracted by the daily routine or by the needs of the hour. Learn to recognize moments for reaping. Jesus has given us a mission and told us to have a vision for what’s going on around us. Focus outward, not inward. Lift up your eyes and look at the fields. It’s harvest time.