Samaritan Woman at the Well – Part V

John 4:35-42
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Jesus is telling His disciples that they are not to think that there are yet four months for harvest. To Jesus, harvest is not the agricultural produce but spiritual produce. To Him bringing people into the Kingdom of God is the ultimate harvest. While the agricultural harvest benefits the physical bodies by providing the necessary food for the entire year, the spiritual harvest benefits the souls of the mankind by providing the spiritual food whereby the hungering soul is satisfied for good. He asked His disciples to lift up their eyes and look on the fields that the fields are white and ready for harvest. Jesus was referring to the many souls that are ready to be brought into the knowledge of the Living Lord right where they were i.e., in Samaria. The people of Samaria were ready to hear the Word of God as they were already ministered to by the Samaritan woman who shared her testimony with her people. The soil was plowed and the seed was sown by the woman and therefore the harvest was ready for reaping. Even today we know that the harvest is plenty but not many laborers are available as it is said in Matthew 9:37. We cannot tarry any longer for the coming of the Lord is nigh. Matthew 24:37 says, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” We see that as in the days of Noah people in the world are busy eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and minding the things of the world rather than preparing their spiritual bodies for Christ’s return. The flood came and people during Noah’s time were taken away and so shall the return of Son of Man be. Right now the harvest is ready and we who are in Christ should labor and not idle our time. Christ when He was here on earth, did not idle His time but used every moment in His hand to sow the seed and thus to reap the harvest. Let us also who are the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3) mind the things that matter the most to the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).

And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. He that reaps the harvest receives wages and gathers fruit for life eternal. Both he that sows the seed and he that reaps the harvest will get to share the joy together. From the first operation all the way till the end of the harvest all those involved in the awesome work of the Lord will enjoy the benefit of their labor and marvel at the joyous work for the glory of God. Psalm 126:6 says, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” We must cry and pray for the souls that yet need to come into the Kingdom of God. The burden that the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself to save the entire mankind should not be taken lightly. He, who was without sin, took the sin of the entire mankind upon Himself. That saving grace of Jesus Christ is never to be taken easy for the burden of the mankind weighed on Him so heavily that He carried the Cross on His back and gave His life for our sakes; He died the death for our sakes; shed every drop of His blood for our sakes. We should also bear the burden of the souls on us and let us cry for the souls to be enlightened of God’s grace. When we bear the precious seed of Salvation, we will surely return rejoicing, bringing the sheaves with us. Let us pray for the hearts that need to be softened so that the ground is plowed and the seed can be readily planted and the harvest can be reaped by the Lord God. We sow the seed of Salvation when we share the Good News and the Spirit of God does the work of helping the soul to receive the message. The harvest is God’s and we simply sow the seed. Here the woman received the Lord as her Savior and spoke of the Savior of the world to her people. The people willingly came to witness the Lord and harvest was ready to be reaped. Yes, Jesus knew that these men were already convicted of the Messiah but simply needed to see with their own eyes and speak the words of conviction. Let us therefore labor for the work of the Lord and sow the seed of Salvation while there is yet time to do so.

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. The Word of God clearly states that the Samaritans of that city believed on Him when the woman testified that the Lord had told her all that she ever did. Great was this woman’s testimony and many believed her words for she came out of her hidden life to speak of it boldly unto them. Who can speak of the life in sin when still in sin? This woman was now out of her dark sins and was thus able to testify to her people of the great Messiah, the Savior of the World who spoke the words of life into her. So, when the Samaritans came unto the Master they besought Him to stay with them. Great was their longing to learn from Him that they pleaded Him to stay with them. He abode with them for two more days. When the Master sees a humble yearning need, He responds to it and grants the request presented. Their request was for Him to stay with them and it was granted to them.

And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Many more believed because of Jesus’ words. There were many who believed when the woman spoke of her testimony and now many more believed because of Jesus’ words. Because of our testimonies many can be saved and brought into the Kingdom of God but many more souls will be added to the Kingdom of God when they hear the words of Jesus. The gospel message has the power to convict a soul of its sins and bring them to the Lord. Do not forget that there are many who are seeing us and our walk with the Lord. Our lives should be the lives of Jesus and a soul can be saved or turned away through our lives. Is your walk with the Lord close enough that it reflects Jesus? If not my prayer for you is that He transforms your life in such a way that your life is a living example of Christ Jesus. Many who believed Jesus’ words said to the woman, we believe Him not because of your saying but because we have heard Him ourselves and knew that He is indeed Christ, the Savior of the World! The Words of Jesus have immense immaculate power that even a hard heart that is completely unbelieving can be softened and turned into a believing heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” This is purely the work of the Lord and He can put a new heart and a new spirit and can replace a stony heart with a heart of flesh. If we are waiting on the Lord and crying out for people in our lives who yet need to receive the gospel message, take heart today that God can do a miracle and put a new heart and a new spirit in the hard hearts that do not receive the message. He can remove the stony hearts and can give a heart of flesh. Let us make this our prayer for the people we are ministering to and let us not lose heart for the work is the Lord’s and our work is to sow the seed. May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Tomorrow: Go and Sin No More