I am a very busy person. Aren’t we all? I work a 9/80 schedule, which means I work 80 hours in 9 days so that I can have every other Monday off with my kiddos. Tough, but totally worth it.

I also run a business in my “spare time” to help put my husband through school.

I have two small children, 5 and 3.

So, as far as priorities go, my days look like this:

FULL-TIME JOB

KIDS

AT-HOME BUSINESS

BED

Pretty simple. Pretty packed.

Somewhere in the week, I make time for my husband, prepare healthy meals, and workout. By CHOICE, I do not have a lot of down time. I must choose every moment wisely.

And when choosing how to spend my time, I am learning to harvest what is fruitful, and pass by what is not.

What that means is, as I surf on Facebook (which, thanks to my business, I do a LOT), or read the news, or watch TV…I could look at any number of funny videos, shocking stories, read up on political brouhaha’s, or just do some fun research for myself. I could lose hours in these places. OR, I could take a moment to assess what that time spent will be harvesting. Many times, I end up putting activities such as these in the category of “weeds”. Whether weeds are flowering and lovely or not, they may add very little to my day, or worse, detract from it. So if I don’t have time for those things? I PASS.

Then there is the time I spend with the Word. Always fruitful. Always worthy of Harvesting. Always living and breathing life into my soul. The harvest of the Word is always worth my time. Never a wasted moment.

The Word of God feels like my life in some ways…pretty simple, pretty packed.

What strikes me most about this verse is what Jesus didn't say in this analogy. He did not mention a wish or desire to see workers preparing the ground and planting a field. The hard work of preparing the soil for a bountiful harvest had already been done. The long season of watering and waiting was now complete. His plea was for laborers to go into the fields and bring out what the land was yielding.

Have you ever gone to a field to pick your own strawberries or to a pumpkin patch where you are greeted with row after row of round orange delight just waiting to be picked? Imagine if you will, what if instead you were told you had to do all the hard work of planting and maintaining a section of land in order to receive its harvest. If you've ever tried to grow anything edible, you know just one misstep or neglect of water and you've killed the plant. For this reason alone many opt out of being small backyard farmers. It's just too much work, too much risk. 

That is the very attitude we have when we are told to share Jesus with others. We're afraid of failure, of rejection, of being responsible in remembering to do what needs to be done, we're afraid of making a complete mess and being mocked for even trying. It's just too much work.

What we should remember instead is that God is the One who does the preparing of the soil, the heart. He is the One who plays the most active role because no one can believe in Jesus without God's help. Scripture says "the Lord who is in CHARGE of the harvest" because it is "HIS fields". By the Holy Spirit, the promise of His word is already planted and He is asking for laborers to do the harvesting. Think about that the next time you walk through a pumpkin patch this Fall.  Remember He has called us to join Him in His fields.  The laborers He calls are you and me.

October is upon us. Hallelujah! Pumpkins! Hearty Soups! Sweaters! (though, not here) Fall leaves! (also, not here. still bitter).

Nevertheless, my favorite month is here. And so is the harvest.

This month, the Daily Fast Fuel gals will be musing about what it means to harvest what has been sown. This week, in particular, we’ll share what, in our experience, it means to harvest the Word of God.  

Look out for a new introduction this week too! This Thursday you will meet another new writer, Lezlie Winberry! Welcome Lezlie!