4:36
“Already the one who reaps draws his wages”. This means that the reaper is already at work. Jesus was already reaping the harvest, bringing people to faith in Himself. Harvest time started when Jesus started His ministry, or even when John the Baptist started his, and has continued ever since. In all situations we need to be looking for opportunities, being sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is doing. Humanly the circumstance may look barren, but God is not limited by human assessments of situations. The Jews had written off the Samaritans as a lost cause, God hadn’t. So as Western societies become increasingly anti-Christian we should both be aware of what is happening, and open to God-given opportunities. “So that the sower and reaper may rejoice together”. Amos 9:13 speaks of the reaper overtaking the sower. There had been much sowing in Israel, most recently by John the Baptist. Likewise in our own society there have been many who have sown words in the past and so far have seen little fruit. We must not despair, and we must expect to see a harvest.
4:37
“For the saying holds ‘one sows and another reaps’”. None of us work alone. Whatever we are doing for God, every God ordained task we do has been planned by God with Him taking account of what He has told others to do. And in Christ all His plans come together. So we must value the work of others, and we must be aware that whatever work God has given us to do (Eph 4:9,10) is one part of God’s plan.
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