CamDevo

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭CSB‬‬

We had certain chores assigned to us when I was a kid. I had a few different jobs, and I didn’t mind most of them, but one I hated had to do with harvesting. I hated picking blackberries.

Where I grew up, the blackberry brambles grew thick and tall every summer. Their thorns were sturdy, vicious, and sharp. Their tangles seemed to have a mind of their own, with malicious intent. They didn’t want me wading in to harvest their fruit any more than I did, and they made their displeasure known.

When my mom would send me out to harvest I moaned and groaned. I didn’t even like blackberries. (I still don’t. Too many seeds.) But I would put on long pants and a shirt with long thick sleeves, despite the humid summer heat. I’d grab a bucket and get to it. At first I’d try just to pick the berries on the fringes, but the fattest, juiciest ones always seemed to be deep in the middle of the briars. I’d reach and strain and inevitably tumble right into the thickest jumble of thorns. I swear those vines were trying to trip me.

Every time, no matter what protection I wore, I’d trudge home sweaty, dirty, and bleeding from a thousand little scratches and punctures. But I was always proud and satisfied with my full bucket of juicy berries.

My mom would turn the berries into pie or cobbler or crumble. If I liked blackberries, that would’ve been a great reward. Instead my reward was seeing how happy it made my dad. And the rest of the family, for that matter. Blackberry harvest became a joyous day in our family because of the dessert born of my labor.

This is what I think of when I think of harvest. It’s not easy. It can be painful, frustrating, and even dangerous. But it can also be rewarding when I buckle down and just start picking.

The kind of harvest Jesus is talking about in today’s verse is bringing people to God. Like berries in a bucket. God will be overjoyed if I bring even one person to Him so that He can heal them and they can know His love.

Harvesting people is a lot more complicated than picking berries. I don’t really even know how to begin. But I guess that’s why Jesus said to pray about the situation. He didn’t say “go out and start harvesting.” He said to pray to God about how to deal with this abundant harvest.

Dear God,

I believe Jesus who said there are many souls hanging out in the world ready to be harvested the way I harvested ripe blackberries. I know you want them to know you and be healed. I don’t have a clue about how to participate in that kind of harvest. Please send out more workers. And show me what to do if you want me to be one of those workers.

“Sow righteousness for yourselves and reap faithful love; break up your unplowed ground. It is time to seek the Lord until he comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain.”
‭‭Hosea‬ ‭10‬:‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

This is a mysterious verse. There’s no getting around it. It was probably mysterious in the time when the prophet Hosea spoke it as well, although maybe a little more relatable.

After much contemplation, here’s what I’m hearing God tell me: the “unplowed ground” is important to understanding His point.

At a farm, unplowed ground is kind of a waste, I would think. Any seeds sown there probably won’t germinate or thrive. The surface is either too hard or too crowded with weeds.

God is telling me to examine my heart for any unplowed ground. What areas of my life have I protected from the upheaval of righteous examination? Where have I let non-Biblical ideas and values thrive and prosper?

This is hard and will take even more contemplation and prayer. But a couple of things come easily to mind: the types of TV shows I watch and the amount of time I spend watching said TV shows. I don’t want to plow these areas over. I’ve put a fence around these areas with a sign saying “Keep Out” to God. They are mine! My time to relax and unwind and stay current with my culture. So many rationalizations.

Oh dear. Is it time to put a yoke on my neck, tear down that fence, and plow under this part of my life? Only then will God rain down righteousness and faithful love, according to today’s verse.

Are there other fenced-off corners of my life in need of a good plowing under?

Dear God,

This is a hard lesson for me. There are some things a have tucked away for myself thinking you can’t see them. But I know that you can. Forgive me for thinking I know better. I know you love me and want the BEST for me. Teach me to trust you and show me how to plow the old, hard, weed-clotted soil of my heart.

“The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I like garlic. I like it a lot. I routinely use at least twice as much as recipes call for. So I go through a lot of garlic.

I also like gardening. What I didn’t know is that garlic is really easy to grow. All you have to do is stick a garlic clove in the ground and it will turn into a whole new bulb with many cloves.

But gardening is a risk. There is a lot of faith involved. It almost feels like magical thinking. “Really? I’m going to stick this tiny seed in the dirt, and a plant will magically appear that magically produces a bunch of tomatoes (or peppers or cucumbers or zucchinis). Do I need to wave a magic wand?” I remember being overjoyed as a child when the first seeds I planted began to sprout. It was real!

Planting garlic is even more of a risk because I have to put something valuable in the dirt. Not just some useless little seed. I actually have to ruin a perfectly good clove of garlic. Just stick it in the dirt. But I went ahead and stuck my precious garlic in the dirt because I had learned to trust gardening.

According to today’s verse, God says that giving is a lot like gardening. To enjoy its rewards, I have to trust God with something valuable. I have to give away my perfectly good, hard-earned money. And then wait to see what happens. God promises a harvest.

I always harvested more garlic than I could use when I planted garlic. The more I planted, the more I got. It’s the same with giving. The more I give away, the more I will be blessed in return. Do I trust God as much as I trust gardening?

Dear God,

Thank you for the example of gardening. You have shown me how to trust you through the process of planting. Little sprouts poking up through the dirt never cease to amaze me. It’s a beautiful design you created. Continue to remind me how trustworthy you are with things besides seeds. Give me courage to trust your promises with all the things I consider valuable.

“Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭7‬:‭9‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I have a friend I’ve known since my high school days. It is because of her efforts alone that we are still close friends. Over the years she has adamantly refused to let us drift apart, even though we rarely lived in the same city.

Not only has she made sure we stay in touch, but through her I have kept in touch with several other high school friends I may otherwise have lost touch with and entirely forgotten about.

I’m sure they would’ve forgotten about me too!

But my friend is loyal. She is and has always been the most dedicated (stubborn?) and loyal person I have ever encountered. I have grown to admire her so much for that.

There were times in our relationship when I wondered why she would try so hard. At times in our lives we had little in common. At one point she was living on a farm raising two young kids in rural Wisconsin while I was a single Technical Director of a software company in Seattle. But she made sure I didn’t forget about her, and she made sure I knew she hadn’t forgotten about me. She asked me to be the maid of honor at her wedding, she made sure I met her kids, she contacted me for all the holidays and big events, and she was in my wedding party as well.

I do not deserve such loyalty. I have not made the effort she has made. She has done most of the work. Now that we are getting old, I realize the enormous value of her loyalty and friendship. And I am so grateful to her for this lesson which has taken me decades to learn.

And yet my friend’s incredible loyalty pales in comparison to God’s loyalty. His loyalty reaches so deep, it stretches beyond my life. When I put my faith in Him, His faithfulness to me reaches a thousands generations beyond me. I don’t deserve that. Not at all. But what a beautiful and generous gift.

I thank my friend. And I thank God.

Dear God,

Thank you for my loyal friends that I did nothing to deserve. Thank you also for the work you have done in and through this particular loyal friend. Teach me to be a good friend to everyone you place in my life. Thank you for your extraordinary loyalty and love.

“You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭13‬ ‭CSB‬‬

My favorite part of the game Hide and Seek isn’t the hiding or the seeking. It’s planning where a good hiding spot might be in advance.

I’m competitive but also don’t necessarily do well under pressure. So if I have a little time to explore and contemplate my options, make needed adjustments, and plan the logistics before the counting starts, I might ensure a win in Hide and Seek (if there is such a thing as winning and losing in that game.)

God doesn’t play Hide and Seek. He isn’t trying to hide from me. There are definitely times when He seems absent, quiet… hiding. But during those times, I’m actually the one who wandered off and ducked into some dark cubby hole. It’s like reverse Hide and Seek. God is out in the light where He always is waiting for me. But I turn away down some dark path. I poke around in the shadows and wonder where God is. Why has He abandoned me?

But in today’s verse, He’s saying, “I’m right here. I always have been and always will be. If you pull your head out, you’ll see me. Plain as day. Standing right here, like always. Come back out of your dark hidey-hole. Olly olly oxen free!”

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your consistency, your patience, and your grace. I’m so glad you promise to be found when I bother to actually open my eyes and my heart to look. Show me the way out of the crevices I go to hide, and teach me how to live without wanting to hide from you at all. I trust you and want to live in the light with you.

“Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬

We are all creatures of habit to varying degrees, meaning we fall into routines, get comfortable with patterns of behavior, and appreciate events that happen as expected.

I want my car to start up every time I push the button. If it doesn’t, I panic. I get annoyed if someone wakes me up earlier than usual or keeps me up too late at night. I’m suspicious when a friend uncharacteristically calls me out of the blue. Moving or starting a new job are two of the biggest stress triggers there are.

Although God created me to be a creature of habit, not all habits are good. But the older a habit is, the harder it is to get rid of.

I’ve heard the easiest way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. That makes me think of today’s verse. It’s not enough to turn away from evil. I should do good in its place.

That’s one of the reasons Alcoholics Anonymous is as successful as they are at helping people overcome alcohol addiction. Instead of just telling people to stop drinking, they give them good, active things to do in the hard moments instead like going to a meeting or calling a sponsor or working the steps.

To turn away from evil, first I have to recognize it though. Would I recognize evil or do I let it routinely wash through my life unnoticed?

On the other hand, doing good takes conscious effort as well. I must plan it, even schedule it. I must intentionally consider what to do, how to do it and then follow through.

The psalmist doesn’t say “ignore evil and allow good.” He uses very active verbs.

Turn away from evil. See it, recognize it, acknowledge it as evil, and change my direction and orientation so that I am not moving toward it or even looking at it anymore.

Do what is good. Decide what is good and make sure it happens.

Dear God,

Please show me whatever bad habits you want me to examine and replace with good. Show me where there is evil around me and teach me how to turn away from it. Also give me ideas of the good you want me to do. Forgive me for allowing evil and hoping for good. Forgive my apathy, laziness, and complacency. Show me the good you want me to start with today.

“God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I remember a story I heard about a man who had been a prisoner of war. He said one of the torturous things about that experience was the sheer boredom. He was trapped in a small cage with nothing to distract him from his fear and pain. All he had was whatever he could dredge up from his own memories and imagination. He said he would have lost his mind except for some hymns that he had buried in his memories. He would sing them over and over, making up new verses of his own.

After hearing that story, I decided I should make sure I knew and memorized all the words to my favorite hymns. I didn’t think I was in any danger of becoming a prisoner of war, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

Today’s verse makes me think of that story because it contains the lyrics for one of the songs I have buried in my memories. We used to sing it in Sunday School when I was a child. So many of the songs I know are made up of Bible verses. I run across them all the time.

Today’s verse is an especially comforting one. It’s definitely one that might help me maintain a proper perspective and stay sane if I were imprisoned. I hope I never ever will be, but no matter what trouble I run into, God will always be my very present help, my refuge and my strength.

Dear God,

Thank you for the people in my past who taught me the Bible through song so that it stuck with me all these years. Thank you for the promise of your presence and your help. Thank you for being a refuge for me and giving me the strength to do what you ask me to do. Help me not to despair in times of trouble but to seek your face instead.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Today’s verse makes me think of the one time I went skydiving. Don’t be impressed, I did a tandem jump where I don’t actually have to know much of anything. I think we spent about one hour before the jump going over the equipment and the procedure. Not a whole lot of preparation for a death-defying activity.

Because it was a tandem jump, my very experienced guide would jump with me. Basically, I was his baggage, his screaming baggage.

Once I had been prepped and outfitted we took off in the plane to take us over our jump spot. Then I was strapped securely to my guide. Surprisingly I was strapped onto his front like the lead rider on a tandem bicycle but snugged together close. I would jump out the door first!

I remember the scariest part. The plane door was thrown open and the vastness of the open skies lay before me. Right outside the door was a tiny step. My guide yelled over the wind, “I want you to step out of the plane onto that little platform.”

I couldn’t do it. My foot just wouldn’t move.

My guide, now speaking right into my ear, said, “Don’t be afraid, I’m right here.” I could feel his weight behind me. I could feel the snug harness. I could feel his strong hand on my shoulder.

I stepped out. And then I stepped out into nothingness. What exhilaration!

Like my skydiving guide, God promises to be with me, to help me and hold me tight. My skydiving guide was an expert in skydiving. God is God, the righteous and all-powerful Creator of the universe!

If I can trust the skydiving guide with such a dangerous and scary thing, I can trust God with anything. And by trusting Him, I can leap confidently into the exhilarating unknown.

Dear God,

Thank you for this beautiful promise! Thank you for being with me. Thank you for reminding me of your qualifications. Thank you for strengthening me, helping me, and holding onto me with your righteous right hand. What a beautiful honor. Im sorry for the times when I am afraid and fail to step forward the way you ask me to. Please give me courage and faith to trust you.

“I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Someone once told me that heaven will consist of being around God and worshipping Him for eternity. I remember thinking that didn’t sound great at all. Why would I want to go to a heaven like that?

At the time I was a kid who was bored with church. We went every week no matter what. We had to wear uncomfortable clothes and sit in uncomfortable wooden pews for over an hour. Sometimes we stood up and sang slow, dull songs or recited strange words. And for a good part of the time, we listened to some guy drone on and on about things I didn’t understand. This is a child’s experience of church (and unfortunately, some adults experience it this way too.)

All of that was categorized in my mind as “worshipping God”. So boring, monotonous, confusing, and uncomfortable.

So when I heard heaven would be an eternity spent worshipping God in His temple, I was appalled.

But as I got to know God, I started to understand the difference between the rituals we humans have wrapped around worship and actual worship. God doesn’t care what I’m wearing or what I’m sitting on while I praise Him. He doesn’t ask me to sing songs that I can’t relate to. None of that matters.

God just wants my heart to be open to experience all that He is and to revel in it. And He is BEAUTIFUL. Imagine the most beautiful scene you have ever seen, smelled, felt, tasted… experienced. Imagine the satisfaction of learning something new and doing it well in an innovative way. Imagine the most deeply you have ever loved or been loved. Then multiply those feelings by a thousand. God is more beautiful, more lovely, good, awesome, wonderful than anything I can imagine. To be in His presence will feel better, happier, more joyous, more satisfying than anything I have yet known.

That’s why, in today’s verse, the Psalmist is asking for one wish, and his fantasy is to sit and gaze at God’s beauty for all of his days.

Dear God,

Thank you for showing me glimpses of your amazing beauty. I look forward to being in your presence, gazing at your beauty, and experiencing your amazing goodness for all eternity!

“Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I didn’t know aging was going to be like this. As a kid, even into my 20s and 30s, I saw old people almost as a separate species. They struggled with things I would never struggle with. They complained about things I would never need to deal with. They were old.

I remember the exact day I felt the first twinklings of age and degeneration. I was 22 years old. I spent the late afternoon playing frisbee with reckless abandon on a golf course. I ran fast, jumped high, and dove after the frisbee freely without a thought toward injury. What joy! But the next day I was sore. Very sore. So sore I could hardly move.

I was so perplexed.

I had experienced muscle soreness before but only after rigorous training as part of a sports a team. This time I was more sore than I’d ever been, and I had simply been playing. Just running and jumping and diving onto the manicured grass.

I realized then that I had crossed some threshold from the invincibility of youth into the nonstop, gradual decline of age.

But I still had no idea.

Now, well into my 50s I probably still don’t have a clue what it’s like to be 70 or 80. But I know that it’s not going to get any better. I’m not going to ever be younger than I am right now. I won’t be able to get much stronger no matter how hard I try. I won’t get more energy. My skin will just continue to sag and shrivel. My body is very slowly decaying. As today’s verse says, my outer person is being destroyed.

Cheery.

This is the result of our rebellion against God and the way of this fallen world. Everything decays and everyone eventually dies.

Thankfully the verse doesn’t stop there. It says I don’t have to give up because my inner person is being renewed day by day. My soul can be as vigorous as ever. I can have the invincibility of youth, in spirit, through the power and grace of God.

Because Jesus conquered death for me, I don’t have to worry about death at all. It will come, but that’s not the end. It’s no fun to age. But if I focus on the state of my spirit rather than the state of my body, I can be full of hope for the future instead of despair.

Dear God,

Thank you for the hope you gave me when Jesus conquered death. I’m so glad I do not have to fear my end. Remind me not to fret about what is happening to my body. Show me what is important. Teach me to look for and rely on your daily renewal of my inner person so that I can inspire hope in others no matter my age.