John 4:35 (NIV) Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

This harvest, that Jesus is talking about, are those who desperately want and need Jesus and what He has to offer. Jesus is saying that the harvest is ready for harvesting. In other words, people are ready to accept Him as their Lord and Savior. New and immature Christians are ready to learn how to live the victorious Christian life. Trainees (disciples) are ready to learn how to go out and help hurting and needy people. But, the problem is that we need to open our eyes. Once we open our eyes and see how ready people are, it will affect our heart. Jesus is saying: "Look at the fields." He wants us to let the situation touch our emotions. Seeing things as they are will pull us into love for those we see hurting and hungry for spiritual growth. As long as our eyes are closed, we will not let our love from God go. With our eyes closed, our love for people will have no place to go.

John 7:38 (NIV) Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

We are the container for God's streams of living water. We believed so we could be saved. But, one of the reasons God saved us was so we would give His provisions of life to others. We may not see ourselves as being that important. We may see others as being the only ones who really qualify for this transforming work. But, this Scripture says: "Whoever believes in Me ...."

This Scripture says the same basic thing. "Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing." We have to accept that as a fact. These two Scriptures are Truth. The mighty work that God has done in our life up to now has been so we would be able and willing to pass it on. Now let's look at those things that interfere with us being willing to let God's love flow through us to others.

Mat 25:35-36 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.'

As we just discussed, we have to open our eyes and see the suffering. Several things happen to us when we do that.

1. We start to hurt for those suffering people.
2. It costs money to feed, house, clothe, nurse, and go to prisons.
3. It takes up a lot of time to meet all these needs.
4. We only have so much energy in a day. We are going to be used up offering all this help.
5. We have to give up resources and opportunities that we would have used for ourselves.
6. The needs are far greater than we are capable of providing for them. We can be overwhelmed by the greatness of the situation.
7. We can become confused as to how much to give and how much to keep for ourselves.
8. We can become frustrated that more people don't help out.

With this and many other potential problems, are we willing to open this door to service? A major part of all the other aspects of spiritual growth (sanctification) have been working on our character so as to get us ready for this question. The help we need to make the right decision here is still in God. While it is true these are scary problems, we have to also look at something else at the same time. When looking at the harvest field, we have to be looking at the principles of God. As we look at the sacrifices, we have to look at the blessings. Jesus used this principle so as to enable Himself to go to the cross.