Pastor’s Perspective: Looking to the Harvest of Good News

By Guest Columnist Spencer Sullivan, Pastor, Pelahatchie Baptist

Well, I hope you enjoyed that week of fall!  Hopefully, there will be many more lovely fall days ahead, but we Mississippians know to enjoy each day that actually feels like fall because we never know how many of those days we will get. But, whether the temperatures are cool and pleasant or the leaves change so we can enjoy all of the beautiful colors, we do know that the holiday season is just around the corner, beginning with Thanksgiving.  

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays on the calendar. There are many reasons why, but mostly, I love how the holiday leads us to be thankful to God.  After all, He is truly the giver and provider of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). The holiday’s origins include the celebration of thankfulness to God for a great harvest of crops that would sustain the people through the cold months of winter.  This remembrance and emphasis on the harvest during Thanksgiving certainly influences many of our fall themed decorations and also celebrations and activities like Harvest Festivals.

This idea of harvest is a theme that is found in the Bible as well, even in the words of Jesus. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus says: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” These words of Jesus came as a compassionate response after seeing helpless crowds that had been harassed. He compared them to sheep without a shepherd. People are often compared to sheep in the Bible. There’s a lot that can be drawn out of that comparison, but the main thing to understand is that we all need a shepherd. We need someone that we can trust to guide us through this life. We need a Good Shepherd who is willing to lay down His life in order to save the sheep. The Bible tells us that Jesus is that Good Shepherd and that He laid His life down as a sacrifice for us!  But even though the Gospel story took place over 2000 years ago, there are still so many people who have never heard that Good News or don’t understand why that news is really, really good. It is believed that there are 3.2 billion people in the world today that would fall into that category. They are sheep without a shepherd.

It’s hard to believe that many people in the world today don’t know who Jesus is or at least haven’t been told about the Good News. But, that reality means that Jesus’ words still ring true. The harvest is plentiful. But it also means the rest of His statement is true…but the laborers are few.  If you are one that calls Jesus Lord and you have been gloriously saved by His life-giving sacrifice, that alone means you have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. But, I challenge you during this Thanksgiving season to think about the harvest that Jesus speaks about. Are you willing to labor in the harvest, at least in the fields around you where you live, bringing people to Jesus? Are you willing to pray earnestly to the Lord to send out laborers into His harvest fields all around the world? Would you allow the decorations and celebrations that will be prevalent during this season to remind you to pray concerning Jesus’s harvest? If you have yet to respond to the Good News or if you are still unsure what it’s all about or what it is, I encourage you to visit a church in the area and ask them about the Good News of Jesus and why the news is so, so good. May you all enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving! Let us be thankful to the One who saves us and sustains us!