"The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!" (Jer 8:20)
When people cry we seem to really take notice. We know when babies cry it’s so normal no one really pays attention unless the baby goes on and then you want help. But when you see an adult cry your heart really goes out. You feel bad for them. The person is evidently disturbed and you yourself feel unsettled. You might even whisper a prayer for them and ask the Lord if there’s something you can do to help.
Jeremiah felt so bad about the cry of wayward Israel. They had provoked the Lord with their carved images and they were way behind their time of repentance. The Lord had been so patient with them and had sent prophets warning them of the imminent repercussions of their sins. Jeremiah had been that patient prophet who for years had been a spokesman of the Lord to Israel. He had also been that weeping prophet who wept over the spiritual condition of the people (Jer 9:1). They were way overdue for a spiritual awakening. It was like the summer harvest was over and no one had gone out and gathered in the produce. How sad and what a waste.
But how sad to see people who aren’t saved yet and who don’t even know they are lost without Jesus. You look at the multitudes of the unconverted throughout the world and it truly is like a cry is going out from them, which they don’t even know they are evoking. It’s a cry of a harvest that is yet to be gathered in which only God’s children can respond to. What a big task we have ahead of us! But if we are willing, we can be a part of the last days harvest before Jesus comes.
Put on your work clothes, Christian. Follow that cry we sometimes don’t hear and let it lead you to many who stand in need of the Lord’s gracious offer of salvation.
"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)
Louie