JANUARY 30

Jesus told His disciples to lift up their eyes and look at the natural fields of grain that were ready to harvest (John 4:35). He used these fields as an example of the spiritual fields of multitudes of men and women around the world who are ready to be harvested for the Kingdom of God.

While standing in the middle of visible natural harvest fields that day, the disciples experienced the birth of a spiritual vision. They received the mandate for their divine destiny. It is the same vision Jesus wants to birth in your spirit. He wants to give you a vision of the spiritual harvest fields of the world which are ready to be reaped for His Kingdom. When you recognize the importance of that vision and understand your responsibility in fulfilling it, your life will never again be the same. Jesus clearly stated: “The field is the world…” (Matthew 13:38). Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Europe, the Islands of the sea–the harvest fields of the world are ripe with multitudes who have yet to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God. The vision has not changed. It is the same as it was when Jesus birthed it in the lives of His disciples. The will of God is the same because the work of God is not finished. There are untold millions yet untold. The vision is still the harvest fields of the world.

When Jesus spoke to His followers about the spiritual harvest, He outlined five steps– recorded in John 4:35–that would enable them to receive the vision. Today and tomorrow, we will meditate on these steps, as they are important in regards to your divine destiny. If your call, your purpose, your perceived destiny is of God, it will somehow relate to the harvest.

Step one: “Say not ye…” Many believers spend their entire lives talking about the harvest. They are like a labor crew trying to gather a harvest while sitting in a barn. They go to the barn (the church) each Sunday morning and study bigger and better methods of agriculture (for spiritual harvest). They sharpen their harvesting sickles–so to speak–and then go home. They come back that night to study better methods of agriculture, sharpen their sickles, and go home again. They do this week after week until the weeks turn into months and months into years, yet nobody ever goes out into the fields to gather the harvest. When Jesus said, “Say not ye” He meant that talking about spiritual harvest was not enough. You must become involved in the actual harvesting process. That does not mean everyone is to leave their jobs, seek financial support from the church, and travel to other nations as preachers of the Gospel. But each believer is to be involved in some way in the spiritual harvest. For some, it will be the fields that are right outside the doors of their home and church. For others, the harvest will be a foreign field. The point is that each believer is to be participating in and not just talking about the harvest.

How does what you perceive to be your divine destiny relate to spiritual harvest? Are you just talking about the harvest or are you reaping it right now, right where you are?