"The Harvest Is Past"

During the time of Jeremiah, the people were in
rebellion against God. God had sent Jeremiah to
warn the people of the need for them to repent
and to follow God again. God called Jeremiah
to "Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem..."
(Jeremiah 2:2) because the people refused to
hear God any longer. They had left God to follow
idols (Jeremiah 2:11) and like broken cisterns
which could not hold water, so was their spiritual
relationship with God: broken (Jeremiah 2:13).
Worse yet, they seemed to enjoy their sins such
that they were not ashamed at the iniquity that
they were committing (Jeremiah 8:12)

Jeremiah looks at the people and realizes that
their will be no redemption in his time. When
the "season" for repentance had come, the people
did not "work" at repenting, and instead they
kept on playing. So, the prophet gives the
metaphor of a farmer who realizes too late that
he has not prepared and has no harvest to feed
his family: "The harvest is past, the summer is
ended, and we are not saved." (Jeremiah 8:20)

Now is the time to make preparation for our
relationship with God. Now is the time to be
working at "planting" good seed that we may
"reap" a plentiful harvest of blessings from
God. Jeremiah could only look at the folly of
his people and weep at their loss. Soon they
would be in Babylonian captivity and it would
be too late to repent. Don't wait until it is
too late. Choose Now to serve God. [JW]

"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
(James 1:21)