Superkid, things are kind of crazy in the world right now. Change is here. You probably think, No kidding!
In the last year, life has radically changed all over the planet.
Times are hard and people are hurting. People are confused and they don’t know what to do. What good news! Wait…what?
You were born for this. As a believer in Jesus, you were made for this time! Not only does Jesus know what’s going on, He wants us in on it.
In John 4, The Passion Translation, the disciples left Jesus at a well in a Samaritan village and went to buy some food. Jesus met a woman there who had experienced a lot of hurt, sin and shame. Jesus knew all about her even before she said a word. Did He deal with her by hurting and embarrassing her? No! He told her the truth about her situation and that He was there to help her. She was CONFUSED. After they had talked, she said to Him in verses 25-30: “This is all so confusing, but I do know that the Anointed One is coming—the true Messiah. And when he comes, he will tell us everything we need to know.”
I love the way Jesus responded! “You don’t have to wait any longer, the Anointed One is here speaking with you—I am the One you’re looking for.”
I bet she was shocked! He is the Messiah, the Savior?
“At that moment the disciples returned and were stunned to see Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman. Yet none of them dared to ask him why or what they were discussing. All at once, the woman dropped her water jar and ran off to her village and told everyone, ‘Come and meet a man at the well who told me everything I’ve ever done! He could be the Anointed One we’ve been waiting for.’ Hearing this, the people came streaming out of the village to go see Jesus.”
She WAS confused, but suddenly her past didn’t seem important or confusing. Suddenly she was excited to tell others about Him.
Then when the disciples encouraged Jesus to eat something, they couldn’t figure out who had fed Him. But He said, “My food is to be doing the will of him who sent me and bring it to completion” (verse 34).
Jesus had met a hurting person, ministered to her and freed her with the truth about herself AND the truth about who He was. When she told others, they came running to see Him! Look at verses 35, 39-42:
“As the crowds emerged from the village, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Why would you say, “The harvest is another four months away”? Look at all the people coming—now is harvest time! For their hearts are like vast fields of ripened grain—ready for a spiritual harvest.’… So there were many from the Samaritan village who became believers in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony: ‘He told me everything I ever did!’ Then they begged Jesus to stay with them, so he stayed there for two days, resulting in many more coming to faith in him because of his teachings. Then the Samaritans said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you told us, but now we’ve heard him ourselves and are convinced that he really is the true Savior of the world!’”
When confused people come to Jesus, they bring more confused people to meet Him! Read verse 35 again. He said, “Look at all the people! It’s HARVEST TIME!” How did He know? He saw that their hearts were RIPE.
My grandfather was a peach farmer. I loved to go see him in the summer. Sometimes I’d go in early June, ready to pick peaches. He would tell me, “They are too green, you have to wait.” Wait? I didn’t want to wait, I wanted peaches! His peaches weren’t ready until July. How did he know? He knew what RIPE peaches looked like and he knew the timing of the harvest. He taught me to know when it was harvest time by how they looked, even though I never really got over wanting to pick peaches out of season.
Superkid, Jesus knows God’s calendar. He tells us what harvest time looks like in Matthew 9:36-38, New Living Translation. He traveled all over teaching and healing. Crowds came to hear Him, just like in Samaria. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Confused? Helpless? Like sheep without a shepherd? That sounds like the woman at the well, and like the world right now! Do you know people who are fearful, confused, hurting? Maybe you’ve even felt that way. Jesus teaches that this is the sign that it’s harvest time! That means it’s time to let Jesus comfort, heal and give us His peace, and allow Him to shepherd us. We will bring in a harvest of people, telling them about His great love.
“He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’”
Superkid, pray this prayer with me:
“Father, this has been a strange time. Thank You for sending Jesus to be my Savior. Jesus, I give You my fears and concerns. I ask You to talk to me and give me Your peace. I give You my confusion in return. Create in me a clean, strong and bold heart to tell others about Your love! I am a Jesus kid, ready to harvest with You. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN!”
The time is now! The harvest is ripe. Confused and hurting people are READY for Jesus! Expect Him to lead YOU, and you will lead them straight to HIM!
Commander Kellie ♥