A Season of Seeds Day 1: Hunger for His Coming Harvest

Commit this season of celebrating the Christ-child as a season of planting seeds!

Jesus stood up to read the scroll of Isaiah: The Spirit of the LORD is on Me, because He has anointed Me to bring a message of good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for those who are captive and recovery of sight for the blind and to set free those who are oppressed. I now announce that this is the LORD’s year to act! Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Luke 4: 16-21

The good news that Jesus announced was freedom! Freedom from poverty, slavery, health issues, oppressive burdens and battering from others. Even more amazingly, He read these verses from promises in Isaiah and announced that because of His anointing as the Messiah, these promises were now to be carried out. This is the harvest that He enacts! And His death on the cross and our acceptance of His debt and forgiveness for our sins places us with Him, side-by-side, at His shoulder, as He proclaims this good news!

This is the time of year that we remember how He has come! Born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem and laid in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. And who He came as: Immanuel, the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Son of God! (Mt 1:16)

You seek to be a hungry disciple of Christ, a learner of His love. He is your nourishment in this life, the One from whom you gather solace and joy and power to act. In these verses He has shared His vision and His mission for all His people, and He invites you to draw on that relationship with Him and be His partner. He sends you into His harvest because the laborers are few (Luke 10:2).

As we journey forward, pray that God shows you the small and the bigger ways that He wants you to share His vision. For now, picture yourself in that synagogue or in the stable or wherever you most often picture Him. My radioactive picture of Jesus is when He is playing with the children (Mark 10:16), rolling in the dirt with them, respecting their humble hearts and their pure curiosity. I call this radioactive because this picture blows me away! This picture from the Bible stands out for me with a special glow! And remembering this picture instantly gets my attention and puts me in the same place with Him. His actions show His mission, and I am there with Him. I am seeing the people He wants to free, I am nodding my head, I am quietly sharing my commitment with those in the same space. I am already noticing which children need food and clothing and a hug.

Jesus proclaims the good news of freedom. He calls us to stand with Him and use our voices to share His vision in the worlds of influence in which we live. This is the harvest for which we are called to plant seeds.

Which picture of Jesus in the Bible stands out for you with a radioactive glow?

What are you seeing as you stand shoulder to shoulder with Jesus?

Lord of the Harvest, send me. Show me how You love the people You place in my path. Let me see them through Your eyes and value them as You value them. Remind me that Your message is always good news. Use me. Amen.