The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth,
being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
You also must be patient.
Strengthen your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is near.
James 5:7-8
Have you noticed we live in a “drive-thru” society? We want what we want and we want it now!
Fast-Food Chains, Banks, Grocery Stores, everything offers us immediate gratification. We need not even drive through to get our latest Amazon/UPS prize. Instant that’s us in 2023!
We throw things out like there’s no tomorrow, too. Think of the many leftovers that could have fed a multitude? Then there are clothes, in one season and out the next. What about gift bags, and grocery bags, and empty cartons? How many things don’t we file under “trash?”
Our latest device is only as good as the next new device, or so we think. In the end we have too much, we own too much. And we can’t wait for the next new thing. Sometimes people see relationships like this, too. Out with the old and in with the new.
However, God’s Word teaches us to build our lives on something solid. His Word. God’s ways. His will.
Yet just as the farmer must be patient, as he waits for his precious crop to be harvested from the earth’s soil, so must we be patient as God harvests His good in us.
It takes time for this thing called transformation, change, or the theological term, sanctification, to make its mark in our lives. But as we allow the Holy Spirit to soften the soil of our hearts so we experience God’s best for our lives.
As the farmer waits for spring rains, and autumn rains, so the heart of the Christian waits for the God of the universe to pour His spirit, the Living Water, over our lives. And as we wait, and wait, and wait, we learn God is helping us harvest a precious crop of righteousness for Him.
What could be more satisfying in this life than waiting for God for His purposes to prevail in our lives? As we wait for God to develop us and grow us, and cultivate our hearts until we resemble Him a little more. Even with all our lumps and rough places not made plain yet, we resemble the God of the Universe a little more every day as we allow him to grow us and shape us and change us. But when we resist the Spirit’s work, our hearts remain as cold as a stone in an unplowed field.
We must strengthen our hearts in the Lord, and in living for Him. By reading the Bible daily, we grow stronger and stronger spiritually. Our hearts and lives grow stronger through the saving work of Jesus Christ our Lord. And we long to be with God’s people in the House of our Lord. We don’t make excuses for why we can’t go; Christians want to go; and we desire to grow.
As each new day dawns, we are one day closer to the coming of the LORD.
We wait upon God for His second coming in faith.
And as we wait, we trust, and grow, and ask for the living water to rain upon us.
In the end, as we wait, and wait, sometimes with mundane tasks to perform, we must ask ourselves what kind of legacy we will leave to those who come after us?
Will we pass down the seed of God’s word for a harvest in the lives of our children, and our grandchildren, and their children’s children?
We know God’s grace creates a legacy of faith, but we also know we play a huge part. We are a tool in God’s hand, a cultivator of our children’s hearts, a plow sometimes, too.
May it be one day we can look behind us and as harvesttime draws nigh, we will hear those beautiful words… “well done good and faithful servant.” Naturally, that harvest is only possible as we lean upon the greatest gardener and farmer of the universe. God’s great field is ready to harvest. Are you ready?