Mike and I have been enjoying bike rides along the winding country roads around Columbus this week. I love the beautiful lay of the farms and fields. The corn is full of fat ears ready for harvest, and the bushy green soybeans are beginning to turn golden yellow. Winter wheat is showing soft bright green new growth, and people’s gardens are loaded with ripe red tomatoes, peppers, and so many good things.

Makes me realize that the people in each of those homey farm houses nestled in the midst of a bountiful harvest, are my own neighbors that Jesus might have spiritually ready for harvest. I am thinking this fall is a good time to go meet those people. Maybe they are ready for harvest. Maybe they, like winter wheat, are ready for seeds of hope to be planted before winter. I won’t know unless I knock on their door, get to know them and find out.

In this eNewsletter I read that money is coming in for us to hire a conference evangelists. I read that tithe and Wisconsin Budget are up this month. I read of Rice Lake church investing in opening a new outreach for their community’s Hispanic population. All this is important and matters to Jesus, for people will find Him through these efforts and generosity. Maybe a neighbor of mine needs a visit. What I do, and don’t do, matters. What you do, and don’t do, matters. It matters a lot to Jesus. It may matter a lot to my neighbor, and even myself.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” To me that’s a sad, concerning statement, because I, as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, am to be a laborer, not just a member. Do you also sense that call to be a laborer and go meet your neighbor?

Juanita Edge, Communication Director