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With October comes the beginning of harvest season for many folks. After a summer of farming and gardening, it is time to collect the bounty and store it for the non-growing winter season ahead. But in addition to important material provision, the harvest season has much to teach us in the way of spiritual truth….
First, the harvest season reminds us that our Creator is the God of abundance. He created the earth in such a way that the earth would sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees…bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them… and plants yielding seed after their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind. (Genesis 1:11-12). Our planet reflects the glory and generosity of its Creator, and we are the blessed beneficiaries of that.
Second, there is a spiritual harvest as well as a material harvest. We have been created in the image of the Creator Himself. We are to create using the resources He has given us. The call to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28) goes well beyond the bearing of children and populating the earth. We are to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and powerful work in us: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). We are to proclaim the Kingdom of God by fulfilling the will of the Lord and walking in the good works for which He created us (Ephesians 2:10). Indeed, Jesus used the concept of earthly harvest to teach His disciples about the importance of the spiritual harvest (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2), of proclaiming Christ so that His disciples would make disciples of all men: Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal. (John 4:35b-36a).
As we consider fulfilling the purposes for which our Creator created us and thereby bearing eternal fruit, it is essential to maintain a faithful dependence upon that Creator. We cannot bear fruit by ourselves: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me (John 15:4). As much as our sin nature might urge us to “do it myself,” the eternal harvest is about the Lord and not us.
May we show deep gratitude as we reap the glorious blessings of our Creator and Lord, and may we know overflowing joy in the privilege of bearing fruit for His kingdom….
