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Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, There are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.
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Today’s message
I love how Jesus wakes us up on the way. The disciples come with bread, and He speaks of another table: my food is to do the will of the Father. While they think about lunch, the city is coming, moved by the testimony of the Samaritan woman who left her water jar and ran. Jesus then nudges us: lift up your eyes. It’s not mission theory; it’s people coming. It’s today. Food for Him is obedience. Joy for us is to enter this harvest that is already white.
The setting is Samaria, a land of high walls between Jews and Samaritans. Centuries of distrust. Even so, Jesus crosses over. He speaks to a wounded woman and turns her into a messenger. Meanwhile, the disciples passed through the market and remained silent. You and I know this silence: pharmacy counter, supermarket aisle, car seat. Jesus repositions us: see the people, not through the filters of prejudice, but by the harvest that is lost if not harvested.
We need
- Vision: to see that every man and woman without Christ is lost.
- Passion: evangelistic fervor that overcomes methods and comfort.
- Commitment: obedience to the mandate; a non-transferable task of the church.
- Investment: money and lives, sending and going to the fields.
Let me press a little more. It’s not first about technique; it’s about a burning heart. I have seen a leper without fingers point to the sky with his stump and confess Christ. I have also seen a believer with a full agenda and a closed mouth. God does not call us to shine; He calls us to obedience. One sows, another reaps, God gives the growth. We do not compete; we cooperate. The city is coming. The question is: will we open our mouths?
The lack of evangelism is not so much due to the absence of method; it is due to the lack of passion.
Three things about urgency and commitment
- Evangelism is Jesus' imperative mandate, not a friendly suggestion.
- The task is non-transferable: God's method is the church.
- The task is urgent: the ripe field is waiting; delay means loss.
I draw two conclusions here
- The lack of evangelism is not a lack of method; it is a lack of passion.
- Open your mouth and share; the power is in the Gospel.
So, let’s align our food with His: to do the will of the Father and finish the work. Look around: colleagues, neighbors, a driver, the cashier. Speak with simple clarity: God loved the world in Christ; He saved on the cross and rose again. Take your step: give, pray, send, consider going. Use the pulpit and the cell phone, the dining table and social media. Lift up your eyes. Enter into the joy of the harvest.
Did you know
- Jews and Samaritans lived in enmity for over 700 years; the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim.
- The Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by John Hyrcanus in the 2nd century BC, intensifying hostility.
- In 1974, at the Lausanne Congress, the phrase was consolidated: the whole gospel, by the whole church, for the whole world.
Key phrases
- My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
- Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.
- The lack of evangelism is not so much due to the absence of method; it is due to the lack of passion.
- Open your mouth, and I will fill it.
Translated from the Portuguese original.
Seek
To seek today
Go deeper
Go deeper
VOCÊ ESTÁ IGNORANDO ESTE CHAMADO DE JESUS EM JOÃO 4? - HERNANDES DIAS LOPES
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