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A Christian
Thought for the Month - October 2012
Thoughts for believers & seekers
Thought for the Month -
The Wonder or Fear of Harvest
Galatians 6:7 A man reaps what he sows
Once upon a time Harvest was very real in a local community, but sadly in some ways but gladly in others, today we have such abundance stacked on our supermarket shelves that we go through the Autumn with little thought of Harvest - except those who are parents at Primary Schools called in to witness the local vicar taking a Harvest Assembly, or those of more traditional persuasion who are encouraged to bring traditional produce and not so traditional provisions, to be stacked across the front of the altar or front table. But for many of us, it passes without comment.
Sowing and reaping, the language of the farm. Yet it is a language that the Bible draws into everyday life. A modern version of our verse above, with the verses either side of it added, reads, “Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others - ignoring God! - harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds!”
So many of the things that go wrong in modern life, go wrong because people ignore this fundamental rule of life. Put most simply it is, ‘actions have consequences’, and if those actions go against the way God has designed us to live, the consequences that follow inevitably are painful. How many young young girls give way to their boyfriend’s or peer pressure, and find themselves either pregnant or with a STD? How many husbands succumb to temptation of the secretary in the office and leave a devastated wife and heart-broken children? How many young men in urban situations carry a knife ‘only for protection of course’ and end up killing another in the heat of the moment. How many risk just another ‘quick one’ before climbing back behind the wheel and ending up hitting and maiming another? Actions have consequences. The warnings are there. It’s not as if we didn’t know!
And then of course there is the greatest consequence of all: having to eventually face God and be held accountable. Actions have consequences. The ‘harvest’ can be scary. But it doesn’t have to be like that, the harvest could be wonderful. Let me tell you the story of Jim (that’s not his real name).
At nineteen Jim got his girlfriend pregnant. They decided to live together. He struggled with the pressure when the baby came along (she hadn’t wanted an abortion). Jim stayed out with his mates to avoid the crying of the baby. His mates suggested they knock over an easy-game local shop. Unfortunately the CCTV got a clear shot of Jim and he found himself doing time. While inside he went to the weekly chapel meeting and heard that God loved him. He found that difficult to believe but as he heard the story of Jesus dying for him, Jim found himself weeping. A prayer of repentance later and Jim found suddenly a lightness, no, a joy bubbling up within him. “You’ve been born again,” they said. In the remaining months of his sentence, Jim learnt what it meant to be a Christian, learnt about having a meaningful relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. To cut a long story short, when Jim got out, he got training and a new career and went looking for his girl and his child. He wasn’t optimistic that she would have him back but it seemed the right thing to do. To his surprise she had been going to church and was on the verge of making that same life-commitment. Ten years on Jim and his wife now have three children, and are pillars of the local community and local church, and run groups helping young people who are struggling with life.
Looking back now, Jim says there were three phases to his life. The first phase was when he was sowing total self-centredness and the harvest was not good. That was an understatement! The second phase was relatively short and took place while he was in prison. It was facing up to who he was - and not liking that - and becoming open to hear the good news of God’s love for him. That phase ended with him surrendering his life to God, receiving God’s forgiveness, and asking Jesus Christ to come and lead his life, showing him a new way to go. That opened up the way for the final phase where he is finding that sowing dependence on God, and accepting His guidance and direction has opened up an entirely new life which has a harvest of love, joy, peace and so much more.
I watched Jim one day talking to some of his unbelieving friends. “I can see what you’re thinking,” he said laughing, after just telling the above story, “it’s too easy, too simple. I tell you it’s not. It is once you pass the crisis point, and that is coming to a place of honesty and surrender, but actually getting to that point is seriously hard. We’re daft, we ignore the things we’re harvesting in our lives, until it gets to a crisis point where we can carry on no longer. But once we get past that crisis, it’s brilliant. I mean who can say that a life filled with love, joy and peace, and having a great sense of purpose and direction, is bad? That’s what I’m harvesting, and it’s great!” And I looked across the room to where his wife was laughing and talking to some of her friends, while the three kids came and went, and I thought, “Yes, that’s a pretty good harvest being reaped here.”
Galatians 6:7 A man reaps what he sows
Once upon a time Harvest was very real in a local community, but sadly in some ways but gladly in others, today we have such abundance stacked on our supermarket shelves that we go through the Autumn with little thought of Harvest -
Sowing and reaping, the language of the farm. Yet it is a language that the Bible draws into everyday life. A modern version of our verse above, with the verses either side of it added, reads, “Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others -
So many of the things that go wrong in modern life, go wrong because people ignore this fundamental rule of life. Put most simply it is, ‘actions have consequences’, and if those actions go against the way God has designed us to live, the consequences that follow inevitably are painful. How many young young girls give way to their boyfriend’s or peer pressure, and find themselves either pregnant or with a STD? How many husbands succumb to temptation of the secretary in the office and leave a devastated wife and heart-
And then of course there is the greatest consequence of all: having to eventually face God and be held accountable. Actions have consequences. The ‘harvest’ can be scary. But it doesn’t have to be like that, the harvest could be wonderful. Let me tell you the story of Jim (that’s not his real name).
At nineteen Jim got his girlfriend pregnant. They decided to live together. He struggled with the pressure when the baby came along (she hadn’t wanted an abortion). Jim stayed out with his mates to avoid the crying of the baby. His mates suggested they knock over an easy-
Looking back now, Jim says there were three phases to his life. The first phase was when he was sowing total self-
I watched Jim one day talking to some of his unbelieving friends. “I can see what you’re thinking,” he said laughing, after just telling the above story, “it’s too easy, too simple. I tell you it’s not. It is once you pass the crisis point, and that is coming to a place of honesty and surrender, but actually getting to that point is seriously hard. We’re daft, we ignore the things we’re harvesting in our lives, until it gets to a crisis point where we can carry on no longer. But once we get past that crisis, it’s brilliant. I mean who can say that a life filled with love, joy and peace, and having a great sense of purpose and direction, is bad? That’s what I’m harvesting, and it’s great!” And I looked across the room to where his wife was laughing and talking to some of her friends, while the three kids came and went, and I thought, “Yes, that’s a pretty good harvest being reaped here.”