John 4:36

The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest

is people brought to eternal life.  What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike.

 

It’s not the easiest passage today for me to come up with any sort of analogy.  I tried to get interested in Bonsai many years ago.  Bonsai is when you grow a tree in a pot or a tub and prevent it from reaching its natural size by regularly pruning its roots and branches.  If you get it right, you end up with a miniature tree that looks the same as a full-grown tree.  I had attended some Bonsai exhibitions and the end results look fantastic so I decided to give it a try.  To cut a fairly long story short, I was never able to produce an end result because all my plants died on me.  Despite reading all the right books, buying all the right soils and feeds, having all the right tools, every single one died.  One time when I was going on holiday, I asked my mother to look after a couple of my plants.  All she did was put them outside her back door on a small porch that she had and these plants flourished.  Sometime after that, I took them back to my own house and they were dead within a fortnight.  That’s when I decided that the art of Bonsai and me were not a good match.  When I look back, I reckon that my planting was ok, my caring was not ok and I can’t comment on the harvesting because I never got as far as that. 

In my current garden, I’m permitted to cut the grass and dead-head the hydrangea.  I planted some garlic cloves and they seem to be sprouting but its early days for them.  My current gardening exploits are practiced under a banner of managed damage limitation! 

It’s fantastic to see a beautiful garden in bloom and it doesn’t take that long to look at it and appreciate it but we don’t see and probably have difficulty in imagining the amount of time and effort that has been necessary to achieve that wonderful outcome. 

In a Christian journey, we need those who plant the seeds of the gospel by word of mouth and in print or in person.  We need ministers and fellow Christians to encourage when brothers or sisters need encouraged and to provide assurance that they are on the right path when they need that assurance. The harvest eventually comes when our Lord greets us in paradise with the words ‘well done, good and faithful servant’.  We have recognised in many of these thoughts that the Christian journey is not an easy one and help can always be found in prayer and by reading the scriptures.  This, in turn, can always be supplemented by applying our listening, caring and loving skills which God has blessed us with. 

Prayer –  Heavenly Father, help us plant the correct seeds in the correct places and nurture our fellow believers when we are able to do so.  Help us to persevere through whatever difficulties arise during our time in this world.  We pray that truth and truthfulness may direct our leaders, inform our nation, govern our business and our everyday lives, that we may live in justice and peace together.  Amen