Two pawns in eternal Chess
John 4:35 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!
Christ had just shared Himself with the Samaritan women at the well. She had realized who He was and hurried back to tell the everyone she believed she had met the promised Messiah. The disciples had just returned from town getting supplies. They had found Jesus talking to her, and when she left they urged Him to eat, for they knew He must be weak from the journey. Christ used the analogy of food to them, stressing the understanding of doing the Will of His Father is more important that physical nourishment. John 4:32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” The disciples seemed puzzled with this example and Christ began to explain the need for obedience, and the eternal rewards of it.
God will place those in our circle of influence before us with purpose. Circumstance is not by chance with whom God has placed before you. At some point you most likely will have burdens for the souls of friends, family, and even seemingly random encounters. You may become bold enough to share your faith with them; God smiles on that sowing of hope in Christ that you just shared with them. Many times it may become frustrating when it seems to fall on deaf ears; you may feel like they just don’t want to hear it; they just don’t want to respond. But the key here is that you are sowing the hope of Christ into their lives; you are being obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit that lives within you. John 4:37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ You must not become frustrated, but know that God is doing the greater work in their lives; you are just a vessel for Him to do that work.
What about the person outside of your circle that is also sowing hope in Christ into that person’s life? God may be using both of you to deliver the same message to that person. That person knows that the both of you do not know each other; how can the both of you be telling them the same exact thing? At some point their heart may open, and the realization that God is the one at work through the two of you. You could be playing a critical role in God’s work in a lost soul. You may also be the benefactor of seeing that person come to Christ; reaping what another sows. John 4:38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” You can only experience this when you are obedient to God’s calling on your life to share your faith; to become a disciple for Christ. There is no eternal rewards found in passivity; but great rewards in participation. John 4:36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
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