REV. BUSUYI OLABODE
It is in obeying God that we grow. It is in doing His will that we truly excel. The Harvest resonates with what God is doing currently. He is bringing clarity to us.
GENESIS 8:22: “ While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”;
MATTHEW 6:26: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”;
JOHN 4:38: “ I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”
One major dimension of God we see in Scriptures is His dimension as a farmer. Also, in the days of Jesus, farming was a major profession. As such, He expounded the knowledge of God’s kingdom by using agricultural principles. Human existence thrives on the laws of seeding and harvesting.
II THESSALONIANS 2:7: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
When God’s people discuss the harvest, the Devil panics. Iniquity is a mystery so that men operate in it without even knowing it. The man of sin thrives on iniquity. The revelation of harvest helps us to demystify iniquity. Jesus, unlike the Devil, is willing to appear so that sin can be known as sin. Sin must first appear as sin for the son of man to come into glory. What we call sins today are actually actions of sin. Jesus will never hide; He will always bring everything to light. We cannot teach righteousness without expounding eternal life because eternal life is the fruit of righteousness.
ROMANS 5:2-5: ” By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”;
LUKE 22:30-33: ” That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death”
Tribulations are necessary to bring us into the glory that God is preparing us for. We need to patiently endure. Glory is not just a message, it is an expectation. The virtues of patience, experience and hope are characteristic of farmers. The reason for righteousness is to remove a hidden law called sin. The products of sin are just the physicalization of the main thing called sin. The Devil produces some things from sin to threaten and shut us up.
The cross is not just an assemblage of pieces of wood, it is a law. When Paul says he dies daily, it does not mean that he hangs on the cross daily. Rather, it means that he reckons himself as dead to the flesh from time to time. God’s expectation from grace and righteousness is the harvest of eternal life. When the core/embryo of a seed is eaten up by insects, decay naturally follows because there is no hope for the future. The seed life is righteousness and when it is removed, it gives way to the law of corruption. Righteousness is not our own, it is an endowment that God gives us. God expects us to learn righteousness so that we can get more and more of eternal life. Man works in righteousness towards the hope of eternal life.
Jesus knows righteousness; He knows sin; He knows iniquity and He discerns them. The target of righteousness is the same as the target of sin. That target is the heart of man. The enemy you see that looks different is not difficult to handle. That is why the Devil would usually plant tares among wheat because they look alike. We need discernment to differentiate between wheat and tares. The nature of sin and righteousness are never the same but on the surface they look alike. Evil is not brutality, evil is a working of iniquity. When it is brutal then that means it is shown to create fear. Nobody will inherit eternal life if he doesn’t go through pressure, tribulation, experience and persecution. Sin is the antidote that reduces life, but when sin is destroyed, righteousness reigns. The reign of righteousness tells us that righteousness is a ruler.
Harvest is a time of rejoicing, it is the hope of judgment against evil. By their fruits you will know them not by their leaves. Harvest is a season of God partaking of us, it is program of time.