THE HARVEST IS COMING. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE

²⁶He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
Mark 4:26-29

OBSERVATION

In this parable Jesus is talking about the progression of how the kingdom of God grows and advances. The kingdom grows from an insignificant and lifeless seed to an abundant harvest. The key is that the man is only responsible of two actions: to plant the seed and to harvest the grain. The in between part the process is natural, done behind the curtain, by the divine hand of God.

APPLICATION

God's kingdom advances in a process where I partner with God. I plant the seed, He takes care of the next steps, until it's time for me to harvest the grain. We cannot give up planting seeds of the Gospel around us. And as we plant seeds, we need to trust God to take care of the rest. We may be tempted to put our hands in the in between stage. We want to intervene in a part of the process where only the Holy Spirit has the access. I plant the seed, but he alone can develop the stock, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. I must be patient and let Him do His work at His pace. But once the harvest is ready, I need to get engaged again and work hard reaping the harvest.

Recently the Lord has put in my heart and keeps confirming that next year will be a "year of the harvest" for our church. All the seeds that we have planted during the first 5 years have been growing and now are about to give everlasting fruit. This means that all the efforts we have been patiently invested on, and all the situations we have endured, will come to fruition according to the will of God. All the people we have exposed to the truth of the Gospel will finally surrender, repent, and obey God's ways. The harvest is coming and I need to be sharpen the sickles and be ready to reap what the Lord has done behind the scenes.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for working the night shift, for being so diligent behind the curtains, doing the part that no one else can do when advancing your kingdom. Help us to continue planting seeds, to be faithful and patient, and also diligent and ready to reap the upcoming harvest. In advance, I thank you for the harvest of initiatives that will be achieved, for the met goals, for the souls reached, for the ministries that become more effective, for the new leaders that will be empowered and deployed, for the transformed lives around us, for the restored relationships, and for your vision to become clearer. I cannot wait to reap this upcoming harvest! Bring it on Lord!