Do you not say, "There are yet four months, then comes the harvest"? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

John 4:35, ESV

We have a grape vine in our back yard that was absolutely filled this year. Our grandkids loved to go over and "check" the progress of these grapes. Though we told them they were not quite ready, they still just had to pick them and sample one or two for themselves. It was enjoyable to see their reactions as their faces would twist in a grimace from the bitter taste of the unripe grapes. But then came the day that the grapes were ready, and we knew that when they would say, "They're not sour anymore!' and then ask if they could have more.

An interesting thing about grapes is that it's not just the grandkids who seem to be carefully looking for the precise day in which the grapes are good enough to eat, for the birds begin to come in droves when that day arrives. If you don't get the grapes picked in the next few days, they will soon be gone - stolen by the birds!

Maybe this is part of the reason that Christ warned us to be attentive to the harvest. Of course, He was not concerned about grapes or even wheat but was rather concerned with the harvest of people's souls. I think we have all had friends and family who came to the point in their lives that they were searching for the truth but, busy people that we are, we just waited for the time to be right for our schedules to share with them the Good News. Now sometimes this will work, but there are other times if we wait too long, someone else will harvest those souls: Satan!

I believe this is one reason that parents need to be teaching their children about God from the earliest of ages. I have heard of some parents deciding to let their children find out about God on their own, so that they will not be unduly influenced by them. I'm not sure if they think that they will somehow be "brainwashing" their kids to their own religion or if they are just ignorant and lazy, but the result is still the same. If children are not taught the truth when their hearts are still tender and receptive, then someone else will teach them something that is not the truth. I sometimes wonder if these parents also let their toddlers decide what they will eat, when they will go to bed, or even if they will play in the streets if they so desire.

Just look at our television shows - from cartoons to nature programs, that teach the religion of godless evolution in thousands of subtle ways. Consider the fact that our schools have been forced to teach this same godless creation account in the name of "science" their real religion. Now, I have to tell you that I am a big fan of science, but teaching as fact a theory that cannot be proven despite 150 years of trying does not seem very scientific to me. But these methods are very effective, and you can see that in the results of having removed God from the classroom and putting in His place a "science" that has very little to do with science. And these results have been quite pronounced as we witness our world turning colder and meaner. I'm not sure what we expected when we told our kids there is no God so that they could determine for themselves right and wrong, but I don't think it was this amoral mess of spiritual anarchy that has resulted from an abandoning of God's truths.

The point of all this is that Jesus really did know what He was talking about when He told us to open our eyes and see that the harvest is now. It is true that we might find that the "grain is not quite ripened" but experience will tell us to wait a short time more and we will see when it is ready if we will just keep our eyes open. More often, we will find that the harvest is now, that people always need the Good News of Jesus Christ as soon as possible. 

There is something else that I think we should all keep in mind: The harvest of souls has faces! These are the faces of our children and our friends, and we need to see these people that we love so and consider how the Gospel of Christ will enhance their lives in every way. We also need to see the expressions on these faces should we consider just waiting a little bit longer for the time to become more convenient for the harvest. And we must remember this: If we do not harvest these souls for Christ by bringing them the Good News and letting them make up their own minds now that they are armed with the truth, then Satan and his minions will certainly glean the harvest for themselves. And the looks on people's faces at the Judgment when they find that they have been overlooked in the Great Harvest may prove too much for us to bear.

On the other hand, if we will love people enough to bring them the truths of God as soon as possible, then we will be doing our small part in making sure that the harvest will be what God has intended all along: A day of salvation!