Honestly, I have not enjoyed playing in the dirt since I was a small child. I remember that I used to eat mud pies and got all kinds of sores in my mouth because I was allergic to dirt. Imagine! So, I leave the gardening chores to my husband who really enjoys playing around outside. That does not mean that I am unaware of how much work goes into the plot of ground that he plants with tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and other good things that we enjoy for several months. I see him out the front window toiling away, early in the season, before the frost has really gone away. He is getting rid of weeds, tilling the soil, turning it over and taking samples to the local agricultural store to find out what he needs to add to the soil. I noticed that this year he moved the garden to the front yard, saying that the side yard needs a rest from being sown. I know that the Bible says to leave fields fallow for a season so that they will produce a crop again. Anyway, we are just beginning to get some of the fruits of his labor, including cherry tomatoes and scallions and even a weird looking squash with a heavenly taste. I am very aware that we would have nothing in our garden if the labor were up to me because gardening is not my thing. I don’t like heat or sweating or dirt, so I stay in the house and watch the progress from the windows. My husband’s work continues long after the first fruits appear because the garden does not take care of itself. God spoke to my heart this morning about preparing the soil and getting it ready for a harvest and then continuing to take care of the garden of my heart as the seeds are planted and producing fruit.

I have always taken this Scripture to refer to the harvest of planting the seed of salvation, and so it does. But I think it means more, or at least it does to me now that God spoke to me this morning about it. There is so much that God wants to tell us, seeds that He wants to plant into our hearts, but we have to be prepared for it. When our hearts are fully prepared to receive from God, we have a harvest that we can share with others, one that is plentiful and that springs up from the words that God has so lovingly planted within us.

I sincerely believe that the harvest that we bear is souls for the Lord. But I also believe that it is the fruit that is borne in our own hearts, the fruits of the Spirit that help us to stand against the wiles of Satan. That fruit feeds our souls during the hard times of trials here on earth. Yes, we do go through trials, but I believe with everything that is in me that God carries us through because He has planted His Word into our hearts and when we need the harvest from that seed, it comes forth and comforts us, strengthens us and prepares us for the next task. I have never seen or read these verses to mean anything other than salvation, but now I feel that there is so much more to these verses. God wants to prepare the soil of our hearts for whatever is coming next in our lives. We just have to be open and ready for Him to do so. I’m always a little anxious when God shows me things like this because I’m like, “Oh, no! Here comes the test!” However, God wants me to always be ready for the next thing in my life so that when He wants to use me, in whatever way He sees fit, I am ready. Are you ready for Him to prepare the soil of your heart? Are you ready for harvest to be produced in you? Get ready, because God’s army is marching forth and He wants His people ready to move with Him! Blessings for a day filled with abundant fruit!

The Move Is On