God's Harvest Work

Our October theme for the Today devotions, written by Rev. Joel Vande Werken, is “God’s Harvest Work.”

I’m not a gardener. We buy our produce at the local supermarket—or maybe from a Farmer’s Market in the summer. But I do love driving through the countryside and seeing crops in various stages of growth. I watch the corn to see if it’s “knee-high by the 4th of July” Then, even more impressively, comes the harvest. Majestic combines reap wheat or corn in rows. Grapes are ripe on the vine, ready to be plucked and made into wine. Apples hang ripe on the trees. And I know that those who do garden really love a crop of fresh lettuce, crisp green beans, and juicy sweet tomatoes.

The Bible has a lot to say about harvest. Jesus tells us that the harvest is plentiful—and then he calls for workers to help in the harvest (Matthew 9:37). The Bible also speaks of bearing fruit. We are called to show the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives—a crop of love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23).

But what does that all mean in an era of agribusiness and supermarkets? Our Today this month will help us understand these concepts. God plants his Word in our hearts, and he wants us to grow spiritually as we get to know him better—growing and producing fruit along the way, like healthy plants do.

Rev. Joel Vande Werken, our writer for this month, pastors a church in a farming community, so he knows firsthand what it means to plant, water, watch for storms, wait for the harvest, and then to work hard as the fields are reaped and gathered. He’s well equipped to use those images as he explains the Bible’s images and words of planting and harvesting.

If you want to hear more of Pastor Joel’s thoughts as he wrote these devotions, please listen to his audio interview:

Who Wrote It? Pastor Joel Vande Werken on "God's Harvest Work"

May you be refreshed, refocused, and renewed in God’s Word!