Ready for Harvest

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

READY FOR HARVEST

Mark 4:26-29

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

NIV

We could see this parable in two ways. But we must know that it is about the Kingdom of God for that is what Jesus said it was about. First we could consider that we are the farmer, sowing the seed, the good news among mankind, and bringing in the harvest of those who accept that seed and allow it to grow in them, but that is just a little speculation. What appears to be the meaning is that Jesus is the farmer and we are that good soil he mentioned before. Now surely Jesus does not sleep and get up night and day, but that is representative of time passing, and the farmer patently waiting for the plant to grow into a mature crop. When we first accepted the Good News into our heart and mind we were as that good soil with a new seed. The Word of God needs to grow in us, it needs to become a full grown crop in us. Now we could say as when the crop is ripe Christ will harvest us and take us home to be with him. So then we could say that if we have not been harvested by Christ, if we have not been taken home to heaven, than we must not be ripe, or for that matter, even full grown. Maybe that is what some among us are taken home at such a young human age, for they may well have become full grown, ripe and ready for the harvest. We must conclude because we are still here, that we have more growing to do. If we are that good soil and accepted the seed, then we just have not produced the desired crop yet. Could this crop be like the fruit, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control? Could it simple be the life we live, the manner in which we conduct ourselves? Could it be how we follow Jesus, our thoughts and attitudes about others? It appears it is all of that and maybe even more. But the point is the result of growth is the harvest. We are not here just to be good soil producing a great crop. We are here to be harvested. The life of the plant is not for the plant but for the farmer. The only purpose of the plant is to bring a benefit to the farmer. We need to be harvested, thus we need to produce a full mature crop in our life and become ripe ready for the harvest.