By Larry Stover
Stover lives in Valley Grande and is pastor at Praise Park Ministries Church of the Nazarene.

Fall has finally arrived. That means it’s time to gather in the crops.

Cotton and peanuts are being harvested everywhere. Truckloads of hay bales are prevalent.  It is that crucial time of the year for farmers hoping to reap a strong financial reward.

Thanksgiving is just a few days away. It is the ultimate celebration of the harvest in America. Families will be gathering everywhere. Wednesday is the most traveled day of the year.

Excitement is growing for those special “Black Friday” deals. Small businesses are gearing up for the “Shop Local” emphasis on Saturday and who would have dreamed thirty years ago that we would be adding “Cyber Monday” to the launching of sales for the Christmas season.

When I think about the “harvest,” I am also reminded of the picture painted by Jesus Christ in Matthew 9:35-38.

It reads, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”

You and I can learn a lot from this passage. It speaks to the mission of the church and all Christians today.

My fist observation is that Jesus loved people. He went from town to town meeting with people of all socioeconomic ranks.

The Lord ministered to them. People heard the word of God, but those truths were also applied to their lives. The people responded in droves and thousands became followers and disciples. Jesus turned Christian truth into action and it changed the people one at a time.

Secondly, I notice the compassion of Jesus. He saw the people as helpless, bewildered, lonely, hungry and suffering. They were described as being “sheep without a shepherd.” If you know anything about sheep, without a shepherd they are in serious trouble.

Lastly, Jesus Christ saw the needs of the people around him. We talk about “forgotten” people today. They are those people who have been lost in the “cracks” of society. Jesus saw people differently. The Pharisees saw common people as “chaff to be burned.”

They were a worthless burden on society. The Lord saw them as individuals who needed help physically, emotionally, socially, and most of all spiritually. Most of all, Jesus Christ died for their sins too.

These forgotten people are everywhere. Dallas County is the home to thousands.

The Bible reminds us that the workers are few when it comes to helping them get their lives back together.

Jesus told the crowd that they should “pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the field.” Are you that worker? What can you and I do?

As we think about the harvest season going on right now, let us not forget that there is a spiritual harvest that awaits God’s people reaching out to the “lost and forgotten” throughout our area.

The Holy Spirit wants to work through all of us to become change agents to people who have been misguided by the agendas of our world. It is exciting to see what God is doing.

I want to challenge the Christians of Dallas County to join the mission of Jesus Christ that is bringing hope to people every day.  In doing so we will all discover that life is “Simply Beautiful.”