Autumn Opportunities

The signs are all around us: cool nights, foggy mornings, and changing colors; grasshoppers, crickets, and spiders; mums, straw bales, and bundles of corn stalks; apples, squash and pumpkins. It is a beautiful time of year. The time of transition between summer and winter blesses us with some wonderful days to enjoy and to complete the work of harvest. We are reminded of what is ahead (winter) and we are given time to prepare.

Nebraska Farmland

I grew up on a farm and I will always be a country girl at heart. Just like my boys when they were young, I could watch the combines, tractors and wagons, and pickers move through the fields for hours on end. The dust gathering in a cloud overhead as the powerful machines strip the fields of their produce. Liquid gold gushing from the combine fills the empty vessels with mounds of treasures, all from some tiny seeds planted carefully in the rich soil five or six months ago.

There is a thrill in watching the bounty be gathered. The successful result of good seed, nutritious soil, proper rains, and sunshine, all from God's hand. The heart swells with gratitude to the Lord for His blessings. The farmer does all that he can and leaves the rest to God. Sometimes the rains don't fall, or the wind blows too hard, or hail beats the plants to mush; but when a good crop is harvested it is God we have to thank.

"A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers," (Galatians 6:7-10 NIV).

What opportunity will present itself to us today? Let us not give up doing good today, or tomorrow. God is giving us a chance to reap the harvest that is ready. During the season ahead, every time you see a combine or wagonload of soybeans or corn, may you offer praise to God for the glorious riches He has prepared for us to reap, and may we share the truth of a blessed life with others as we have the opportunity. Praise be to God forever and ever, Amen.