"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages, and is gathering fruit for life eternal; that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor" (John 4:35-38).
To intercede is far more than to pray: it involves the whole being. It is the pouring out of the soul to death for another. The Lord Jesus' life on earth was one long intercession. And it continues to be so (Heb. 7:25). Before He ever came to the cross He was interceding for the transgressors. He was ever laying His life in their path so that, through Him, they could come in repentance to the Father.
This pouring out of our souls to death for others is characteristic of all those who belong to Christ Jesus. Moses, "considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt," (Heb. 11:26) did it. He squared with the sin of the people but he laid his soul on the line for them: "But now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou has written!" (Exodus 32:32). Paul did the same: "For I could pray that I myself were accursed from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh . . ." (Rom. 9:3). It is the Lord Jesus living out His intercession through His earthen vessels; it is us joining Him in His intercession. It is doing in our flesh our share on behalf of His body the church "in filling up that which is lacking of Christ's afflictions" (Col. 1:24). This involves sufferings for others' sake (Col. 1:24).
As Horatius Bonar points out (in The Rent Veil): "The sheep is too precious to be lost. It must be sought for and found; whatever toil or peril may be in the way. Even life itself is not to be grudged in behalf of the lost one. 'The good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep,' as if the life of the sheep were more valuable than that of the Shepherd."
The fields are white for harvest. Will we reap? Others have gone before us, sowing their very lives and their very souls for the harvest: "I have sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." What does this mean? One meaning could be that the previous generations of Christians have preached the gospel before us, thus sowing and laying down a foundation that we can reap and that we can build upon. They have cleared the land, they have done the plowing, they have sown the seed with their own lives. They have done all the hard work. We have the easy part, comparatively speaking: we have but to reap.
But what happens to a field that is not reaped? Does it get better or does it get worse? If a harvest is not reaped it rots, it decays in the field. Does this partially explain the current state of society? We complain of indecent morals but have we reaped what others have sown or have we allowed it to decay in the field? By and large the church has internalized itself and served its own interests, while ignoring the harvest dying on the outside.
The Lord Jesus has eternally the heart of a Savior and those whose lives He is living will exhibit the same interests. They will not be able to stay at home while others perish. The Lord Jesus within them will thrust them out into the harvest field like a sickle to do some reaping.
Are we serving His great interests or Satan's?
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Now if I said it real pretty in a pretty rhyme
Does your mind get cloudy that's a dirty crime
Does it do things any good to tell you
That I'm standing here because- I love you
You say the voice is soothing got those hypnotic eyes
But man I wouldn't want to hand you any alibis
You can blame it all on what you can
But do you see just where I am- I love you
I had a flash, I saw you crying in the night
I said a prayer, I saw you walking in the light
And you were saying how it all once was
And how your life has changed because- He loves you
And then you turned and told someone
Who wouldn't believe you when you said- I love you
Now if I find it rough going in expressing myself
And between the lines it's coming from somebody else
Don't you leave it altogether
Put this upon the shelf- I said I love you
Now when I say it real pretty in a pretty rhyme
Does your mind get cloudy that's a dirty crime
Well, Does it do things any good to tell you
That I'm standing here because- I love you
Well, does it do things any good to tell you
That I'm standing here because- I love you
Does it do things any good to tell you
That I'm standing here because- I love you- yes I do
I said I love you- love you- yes I do
.......................................
I live in my room, it's warm here in my room
World is spinning, spinning like a big top
I have got a secret, I will slip it
Under the door, slip it to this wicked wicked world
I read in my room, memorize in my room
I am removing myself, I am moving quietly
Those without the secret, keep on knocking
At the door, disturbance from this wicked wicked world
There's many little rooms, with people like me
We often get together, in a bigger room
We harmonize, we harmonize
We know it's real, we know it's real
I sleep in my room, it's dark now in my room
Time is ticking, ticking on the big clock
It's raining outside, heaven's tears
Are falling down, falling on this wicked wicked world
I live in my room, I live in my room
I live in my room, I live in my room
I live in my room
-- Terry Taylor
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