• While waiting for a bus to take me to the hotel at the end of the day, I watched as several of them passed by my waiting area. As they sped to their destination there was a sign in each of them that read, "Out of Service."
• Jesus, when speaking about the responsibilities of His disciples said, "Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest."
• Our Lord clearly addressed a pressing need in His day and a need that we, as His followers, face today: There are many in front us, to the side of us and behind us that are waiting to be brought into the Kingdom of God. It is not that He is unconcerned about them or that they are not willing to listen to His offer of salvation, it is because we, His followers, are out of service.
• Sometimes we excuse ourselves from being His witnesses and "harvesters" by saying that our family members and friends are not ready to believe. Jesus, however, made it very clear that we are surrounded by an opportunity to be involved in a constant and continual harvest waiting to be reaped.
• Each day we must remind ourselves that He will return and find us doing "something." What will it be? Will He find us involved in taking the Good News of the Gospel to those around us? When He appears will we be doing what He has called us to do or find us out of service?
• Prayer: Lord, You have called us to labor with You in the "great harvest" by witnessing and winning the lost around us. Convict us of our lack of concern for the lost. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
• Scripture for Today: John 4:34-38: "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don't you have a saying, 'It's still four months until harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."