LIFT UP YOUR EYES, AND LOOK ON THE FIELDS

It might be easy for us to forget that these words came near the end of the account of the Lord’s dealings with the Samaritan woman. He had met her at the well; a quest for natural water had led her to find spiritual, living water to quench the thirst of her soul.

Now, as the inhabitants of the city flocked to see this Man and the day grew long, the disciples wanted Jesus to take food. Their interest in natural food led Him to have a discourse with them about spiritual meat and to teach them an important lesson.

The disciples, in procuring food for themselves and the Master, may have missed the entire significance of the Lord’s interaction with the Samaritan woman. While they had been occupied with the hunger of their stomachs, He had shown to the woman His loving interest in her and the hunger of her heart. It was far more important to Him to do the will of His Father than to consume a meal. His goal was finishing the work of salvation. Ultimately, this would be accomplished by His death and resurrection. But, even on His way to the cross, God was giving Him souls. He used the harvest as another object lesson and turned the attention of their hearts to the fields of the world around them - not to the grain or the crops but the growing crowd of men and women from the village that were now thronging around them.

Jesus called His disciples reapers. They were to harvest souls as He had done with this woman. What a challenge to our hearts as well. We may never travel as missionaries or evangelists, but what about our neighbours, our friends, our business associates, our clients and customers, our patients? All around us are hungry and thirsty souls, just like the Samaritan woman. As our lives cross paths with theirs, we may be their only exposure to the gospel, their only opportunity to hear the wonderful words of life. May God exercise us all to herald and publicly proclaim the word, 2 Tim. 4. 2, using every opportunity we are given. As the chorus says, ‘Don’t go to heaven alone; take somebody with you!’