Are we as beautiful as this?

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:38)

During a visit this week to where I grew up, my family and I happened upon an actual hay harvest. Take a look at this beautiful operation! I will call the three pieces of equipment a rake, baler and stacker. The rake gathered the cut hay into “wind rows.” The baler then traveled over the wind rows to form and drop bales of hay. The stacker then traveled behind the baler to stack the bales into large cubes that were hauled away to sell.

Breathtaking.

From God’s vantage point, I think this is what the body of Christ is supposed to look like. When an argument arose between people who wanted to follow Paul and Apollos, Paul said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). As each of us does our part to share Jesus with the world and see some respond to the message to join the family of God, we are each doing our part in the harvest just like this rake, baler and stacker.

Pay attention to the cut hay in the foreground of the top photo and pause to comprehend the unbelievable amount of hay to be harvested.

Look at how much there is!

The massive machinery used to harvest this field in a day or two can make us forget the incredible amount of work at hand. We aren’t machines, however. We are people. Our labor is personal and rooted in relationship, so it takes us longer to see the harvest. But let’s not be fooled. When we are harvesting the old-fashioned and relational way, we are just as beautiful as the workers in this field! Imagine one person “raking” while another is “baling,’ and yet another is “stacking” in perfect unison.

What a glorious sight we are when doing the Lords’ work.

Now look at the last picture. A clean field. No strand of hay was left unharvested. Does everyone in our path have equal access to the gospel message or do we pick and choose people we like, or people who look like us? Do we play favorites? Do we settle into a routine and miss God calling us elsewhere?

Are we this thorough?

Take a second look at that last picture. The next harvest is already growing! In 4-6 weeks the big machines will show up to do this all again. As workers in the harvest field, do we keep showing back up in people’s lives? Do we do well in one generation and then forget to do the same in the next? We must never, ever quit.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Matthew 9:38b)

Now let’s pray as the verse asks us to do: Father, thank you for the reminder this week of the massive harvest, but also of Your joy as you watch us labor in orchestration. We ask that you send more workers into Your harvest field. Amen

I felt like I was watching something special this week and hope you enjoyed it too.

Picture Explanation: Harvesting hay in 2021.

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