1. Reaping
and Harvesting
Special message by Bro.V.Devadoss
“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.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto
life eternal that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may
rejoice together.” (St.John 4:35,36)
Our Saviour Jesus Christ was sent into this
world to redeem mankind and for the salvation of every
individual. If we meditate on Christ’s sermon, we read about
Christ as being wearied (St.John 4:6) hungry (St.John 4:7,31)
and thirsty (St.John 4:8) and seated near Jacob’s well. Even in
such a condition he lead the Samarian woman to salvation. Every
soul is valuable in His eyes. He loves even the people who are
rejected y the society. That is why when His disciples brought
him food to east. He said that His food was to do the will of
Him that sent Him. ‘Jesus daith unto them, ‘My meat is to do the
will of him that sent me, and to finish his work (John 4:34)
The whole city came to know about Christ,
the savior through one soul.
‘And many more believed because of his own
word; And said unto the woman: Now we believe, not because of
thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves and know that this
is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world.( St.John 4:41,42)
Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Say no ye,
there are yet your 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. And he that reapeth receiveth
wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that
soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together’ (St.John
4:35,36)
Jesus Christ preached the Truth through
parables He wants us to do the will of the Lord his ‘meet’
refers to every individual’s heart which does not know that
christ’s word is the seed. Christ establishes a points out to
the believers in every generation, the fields ready to be reaped
int cities and the distant nations.
Next Jesus speaks about the ‘Sower’ we find
the parable of the sower in St.Mathew 13. If we want to bring
forth fruit, we should sow in good ground wherever we may be,
whether it is our place of work or our path of ministry or our
path of life, we cannot reap harvest without sowing. The Bible
says: ‘Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same
year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him (En 26:12) God
blesses us only if we sow
Sow in tears, reap in Joy
The Bible says
‘They that sow in tears shall reap in joy! (Psalm 126:5) Prayer
with tears brings blessing ‘Hannah prayed to God and wept sore
(I Sam 1:100 The Lord saw her tears and blessed her with Samuel
and five children.
A certain missionary was sent to spread the
word of the Lord. He was not able to win any soul. He decided to
give up. But those who supported him sent him the message ‘Try
Tears” The missionary knelt and prayed to the Lord weeping. As a
result, he was able to win many souls.
200 years ago missionaries came to our
nation and sowed with tears. They dedicated their lived to win
souls. Today we see the fruits of their labour. 100 years ago,
missionaries from the I.P .Mission came from England on horse
back and sowed the seeds of the word amidst the Bhil Tribe. Some
of them died young. Some of them were not able to hardship they
established a few parishes. But today following their footsteps
our Shalom missionaries have succeeded in establishing hundreds
of parishes and Bhil missionaries.
On July 1, 1991, we started this mission in
a haunted bungalow in Jhalod, Gujarat.God showed us the Bhil
Tribe in a vision. In the initial stages, we had to undergo many
hardships. We were able to overcome all financial difficulties
with God leading us. On June 24th 1991 our child ‘Sharon’
reached the feet of God. We had no one to console us. After a
few days, during a fasting prayer meeting, the Lord showed us a
vision in which he gave us the responsibility over the Bhil
Tribe moreover instead of ‘Sharon’ He blessed us with ‘Shekinah’
and delighted us. How true it is that those who sow with tears,
reap in joy.
At the same time when we try to win souls
to build the kingdom of God by praying with tears, God blesses
us in this and in the next. Jesus says that we have to gather
wealth in Heaven. How do we do this, we can do this by
dedication ourselves with tears to build the church of God on
earth.
I happened to read the life history of the
missionary Ragland. When he asked Ms.Sarah Tucker, a missionary
in England, help to build an educational institution for
Christian students in Palayamkottai, she sacrificed her
belonging and sent funds to build the institutions. Ms.Tucker
would not have seen the educational institutions but she will
really enjoy its fruits in Heaven.
Once when we had been to Bangalore we met
three families who support the Bhil Tribe. Inspite of their
financial difficulty, they would contribute Rs.1500/- per month
to support the mission. They helped a lot to build churches and
sent many things needed for the mission. As a family we used to
pray for their welfare and God has blessed them with good houses
in Bangalore. Glory to God.
‘He that receiveth a prophet in the name of
a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that
receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall
receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to
drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in
the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in the
name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shell in no wise
lose his reward. (St.Mathew 10:41,420
Therefore, let us sow in tears. Let us pray
for our nation, for our missionaries with tears. Let us dedicate
ourselves to build the kingdom of God. Our nation will realize
God in our generation itself.
‘And he that reapeths receiveth wages, and
gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and
he that reapeth may rejoice together. (St.John 4:36)
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