Looking Ahead to the Harvest

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” -John 4:34-38 NIV

Our passage today appears in the middle of one of the most familiar and grace-filled stories in the Gospels: Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. If you are not familiar with the full story, it is worth taking time to read all of John 4. The context matters. Jesus meets a woman with a complicated past in a place marked by division and misunderstanding and offers her living water that leads to eternal life. What He offers is not something she earns or understands fully in that moment. It is a gift of grace.

The woman’s response is immediate. After encountering Jesus, she leaves her water jar behind and goes back to her village to tell others about Him. She does not have all the answers, but she has experienced something real, and that is enough to move her to action. Because of her testimony, many in her community begin making their way toward Jesus. This is why she is often referred to as the first evangelist or missionary.

It is in this exact moment that Jesus turns to His disciples and begins talking about the harvest. While they are focused on food and daily concerns, He points them toward what God is doing right in front of them. As He speaks about sowing and reaping, the people from the village are quite literally coming across the fields toward Him. Jesus is not offering a distant lesson or a future theory. He is teaching His disciples in real time, using what is unfolding before their eyes to show them what the harvest looks like and how they are stepping into work they did not begin.

Jesus explains that some sow and others reap, and that both are part of the same joyful work. The disciples are about to experience the truth that the harvest often comes through obedience, they did not see, and faithfulness they did not carry out themselves. The woman has sown through her testimony, Jesus has sown through His presence and grace, and now the disciples will reap as people respond to the good news. It is a living picture of God’s mission unfolding through many hands and faithful steps.

Earlier in the chapter, He spoke of living water that brings eternal life. Now He speaks of food, of sustenance, of work. Together, these images hold something important for us. We receive living water freely. Eternal life is a gift of grace. But we are also nourished by obedience, by participating in the work God is already doing.

As we look ahead to a new year, this passage reminds us that grace and calling are not separate. We look to God for the provision of living water, trusting Him to sustain and renew us. At the same time, we recognize that to drink deeply of that living water is also to take on the food of faithful service. God invites us to open our eyes, to see where He is at work, and to step into His harvest with humility and joy.

This is true in our own lives, and it is true in the work of the Missionary Society. We depend fully on God to provide what only He can give. And because He is faithful, we move forward, ready to serve, trusting that the same God who has been at work will continue to be faithful in the year ahead.

Reflection

Jesus reminds His disciples that the harvest does not always look the way we expect. While they were focused on what was next for them, God was already drawing people toward Himself. This passage invites us to trust that God is always at work beyond what we can see, using obedience we did not witness and faithfulness we may never fully understand. As we step into a new year, we do so with confidence, not in our ability to control outcomes, but in God’s ability to bring fruit from what He has already begun.

Prayer Point

Pray for patience and discernment as you enter the new year. Ask God to help you trust His timing, recognize His work even when it surprises you, and participate faithfully in the part of the harvest He places before you.

Reflection Question

How might your perspective change if you believed that God is already preparing fruit you have not yet seen, and is inviting you to take part in His work with humility and trust?

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