Something For Sunday
By Robert Jones
The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved yet. – Jeremiah 8:20
This thought-provoking passage comes from a portion of scripture where God is speaking through His servant, in this case the prophet Jeremiah. The statement is one of realization where God forecast the thoughts of His people given their situation. They are living through a hard time, and they are looking for relief. The idea here is that the best time of year to plant, work, and harvest has passed and there is still a concern for survival through the winter.
Many of you can identify with the feeling of having done lots of work yet still feeling like the progress is inadequate. There is almost a sense of despair as you exclaim inwardly and sometimes aloud, the same sentiments of this passage, “All this work and I have yet to see my desired result.”
Maybe this year hasn’t gone the way you thought and now, as you enter the final quarter, you feel like the time to accomplish your goals is over and you are ready to retreat to the disappointed space in your mind where you tell yourself, “Maybe next year.”
I want to encourage you; the winter may slow down production, but it doesn’t have to completely stop productivity. Ultimately God, through the prophet Jeremiah, in this passage is calling His people to do the right thing. The message is the same for each one of us. Though the year is coming to an end, let us work and gather what we can. Let us be a help to those who need it. Let us take the small incremental steps to be a better person, family member, and friend. Finally, let us use these final months of the year to lay the foundation for what we will build next year.
For some of us the harvest we experience next Spring or Summer is because we planted the seeds today, in the Fall and Winter.
