Harvesting the harvest

A reflection on Pentecost from Christian Aid

So very often we think of Pentecost as being the day the Holy Spirit came. The reality is that the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost.

Pentecost was actually the Jewish ‘Spring Harvest’. A time to look forward and pray for God’s provision for the rest of the year. It was a day to celebrate and to pray. A day to look forward to the rich harvest that God willing, was in store.

This explains why Acts chapter two tells us that ‘there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven’. They were there for the festival and it was on that very day that God chose to send the Holy Spirit on the disciples.

The day that was set aside to celebrate the forthcoming harvest, was the day the harvest of souls for Gods kingdom began in earnest. God certainly knows how to time things. That very day about 3000 people were brought home. No wonder Jesus had earlier said to the disciples:

The Harvest if plentiful…. Pray the Lord of the Harvest to send workers in the harvest field.

On the day of Pentecost those workers were equipped by the Spirit, went out into the field and reaped an incredible harvest.

Today – nothing has changed. The harvest is still plentiful, the labourers are still too few, and the same Holy Spirit is still ours! All we need to do is to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, then to go out into the field and who knows what the result will be for the Kingdom of God. On the day of Pentecost those workers were equipped by the Spirit, went out into the field and reaped an incredible harvest.

We may not be able to literally ‘go out into the field’ at the moment, but we can still pray, we can still be generous with our time and money, we can still speak out for justice.

In Galatians chapter six, Paul makes a statement which seems particularly appropriate and apt for the strange times we find ourselves living in. He says ‘Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’

Thank God that we can count on the indwelling Holy Spirit to keep us going.

Every blessing this Pentecost.