The White Field

John 4:35 – Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (KJV)

My husband and I had been to a Christian banquet and had heard a most inspiring evangelistic preacher talk about his work. The dinner was held at a Los Angeles restaurant perched high on a hill. Each banquet room has a window which takes up an entire wall and overlooks the San Fernando Valley, where we live.

As my husband chatted with friends, I looked out into the darkness at the landscape spread before me, thickly dotted with white lights. As I did so, I remembered the words of our Lord as He impressed upon His disciples the urgency of spreading the gospel: "The fields are white already to harvest."

Here, indeed, was a field, white, ready to be harvested for the Lord! I thought of the inspiring speaker we had just heard, and his miraculous stories about how the most unlikely hearers — "Oh, no, Lord, surely not that person" — had in fact come to know Christ.

The context of today's verse is Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman. His disciples were shocked that He would speak to this lowly, despised person. Surely God's kingdom was meant only for people like them — devout Jewish men. Not so, says the Master. The fields are ripe; get out there and harvest. Speak, pray, and live the Word before everyone, and let God decide the result.

I realized, as I looked out over our sparkling valley, that what counts in kingdom workers is not position, power, or numerous letters after our names, but open, willing hearts. I prayed that God would give me such a heart, as I felt His call to go out into the white field and harvest souls ripe for the gospel.

Prayer: Lord of the harvest, we are all Your reapers, whether we admit it or not. We all have a "field" — the office, the neighbourhood, the grocery store, and for some, even other lands. Show us each our field, and send us out with joy into Your harvest. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

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