The month of October is here.  The time of the harvest draws nigh. Signs of the harvest are everywhere. The temperatures are cooling off.  The green leaves of the trees are starting to turn.  The color of the corn stalks are changing from green to golden brown.  The farmers are getting combines, trucks, and semi-trucks, ready to haul grain to the grain bins.

The Scriptures also have a lot to say about the harvest.  The Lord’s harvest is awesome.  It began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  God gave dominion over the land, plants, animals, water, and air of the Garden to Adam, to tend as the Gardener.  The theme of growing crops and harvest continues throughout the Old Testament, as the Lord declares Israel His vineyard, and Him as the Owner and Master. It continues in the New Testament with the parables of Jesus in the Gospels. It climaxes with Jesus on the cross on Good Friday paying for the sins of the world with His life, body, and blood, with a thief that came to faith on His right, and a thief who did not on His left. It continues with His resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene saw the resurrected Christ and mistook Him for the Gardener. Jesus is the new Adam who has replaced the old. Jesus is also the new Gardener who replaced the first one named Adam. The Lord’s harvest will culminate in the return of Jesus on the Final Day.

In Matthew 13, Jesus explains the “Parable of the Weeds” to His disciples:

He answered, “The One who sowed the seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.  The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are the angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears let him hear.”  (Matthew 13: 36-43)

The Lord’s harvest is ongoing, and continues each day. It involves the two great works of gathering and separating. The Lord’s separation in His harvest stands for all of eternity.

We are living in the Final Days. All has been fulfilled in Christ.  He can return at any moment in time.  The Final Days will be filled with trials, tribulations, and troubles, as Satan has been unleashed for a short period of time.  God however, will also continue to watch over and provide for His people. Until His return, we as His people will do the work God has assigned to each of us according to our Vocation and Offices in His vineyard.  As we do them, Christ is reflected through our thoughts, words, and deeds.  While we are working, we await with expectation and anticipation. For we know by faith, that in the Lord’s harvest, the best for you and me is yet to come.

Have a Blessed October,

Pastor Brad Rick