The Power of Faith

Daily Devotional – Thursday, December 28, 2023
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
John 4:35 (NKJV)

Jesus is preaching to a crowd from a Samaritan village, thanks to the evangelistic prowess of a woman of loose morals, now a disciple. His twelve apostles have just returned with bread, and they want him to take a break and eat. Not to be deterred from the task at hand, Christ tells the disciples that He has food that they know nothing about.

The Harvest is Ready

Seeing that they do not understand Him and that they seem not to appreciate that many Samaritans are here eager to listen to Him, the Lord tells the disciples, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35).

The disciples lack spiritual discernment. They view natural and temporal phenomena but cannot perceive the spiritual connection. Thus, Christ uses what they know to teach what they don’t know. In four months, farmers will harvest the crop in the fields. At a spiritual level, however, there are many souls that have received the gospel, like these Samaritans, and this will be evident soon.

Seeing Beyond the Obvious

In a way, we are like the apostles. We fail to make a connection between the natural world and the spiritual one. In other words, we lack faith. To the apostles, the Samaritans who had gathered to listen to Jesus and who believed in Him en masse after that were enemies and apostates. To Jesus, though, there were children of God worthy of salvation.

As a Christian, your spiritual eye must always be open to discern the workings of the Lord. In the natural world, there are important spiritual lessons for us. Only by faith can we see children of God in drug addicts, drunkards, thieves, murderers, and those we consider vile sinners. In every sin-darkened corner, there are opportunities for us to shine the light of Christ.

The Power of Faith

Today, ask God to lead you to a person who needs love, forgiveness, and acceptance. Pray for the opening of your spiritual eyes to see heaven’s candidates in the most unlikely of places. Before you condemn the ‘hopelessly lost’, remember that the harvest is ready and you are God’s laborer to reap, not to condemn.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, increase my faith and lead me to the spiritual fields to bring Your children back home.