Autumn slips into southern California with less fanfare than most parts of the country.
But when it arrives, it brings chilly mornings and evenings—and the time for long pants and sweatshirts. During autumn, I bask in childhood memories of the Colorado Mountains—deciduous trees aflame with color, displaying their spectacular autumn dress. Days can be warm and deceptively summer-like, followed by a sudden dusting of snow overnight. The abrupt temperature changes can set off a tidal wave of color among the aspen trees, creating the most colorful displays of the season.
When I was a child, our family lived on a five-acre farm on the outskirts of town. As the days grew cooler and shorter, everyone was expected to gather the crops we had tended all summer. The tedious hours of weeding, watering, and hoeing brought an abundant crop. Our garden was lush with tomatoes, corn, beets, green beans, and many more vegetable varieties—enough to feed our large family in the winter. We all knew when the crops were ready, we had to harvest.
When Jesus looked at the crowds of people around Him, He saw into their hearts. He felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd. He referred to those hopeless, hurting people as a field ripe for harvesting and urged His disciples to pray for workers to send into His harvest.
We can be those workers, bringing comfort to the hurting. We may think someone we know is not ready to believe. While we can't see into people's hearts to know who will respond to the gospel, God knows. We should be a harvester—a witness for Christ.
The crops are ready. Head to the fields. It’s harvest time.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Love of God's Word and her desire to write melded when Stonecraft Ministries accepted Patricia Van Gorder as a devotional writer. Patricia is a motivational speaker as well as the coordinator and guide for the women’s Bible studies in her church and serves in Stonecroft Ministries. She has written two daily devotionals, Views from the Water’s Edge and Pebbles of Prayer and Ponderings. She and her husband, Larry, live in Solana Beach, California. You can connect with her at www.patriciavangorder.com.