Look Over The Beautiful Fields

Come let us gather the grain
The sun is crossing the hill
The harvest is white and souls are not right
Look over the beautiful fields

Spring time has come and passed
Summer will soon bring the fall
In sunshine or rain, let’s gather the grain
No laborers are working at all.

Chorus
I hear my Savior calling
“Look over the beautiful fields.”
The grain will decay and soon fade away.
Look over the beautiful fields.

O see that evening shadow
The sun is sinking low
Look at the sheep, they’re hungry and weak
Lord, please watch over their souls.

Look back at the Cross of Calvary
You’ve traded this world for your soul.
You’re breaking His heart since you strayed so far,
Why don’t you return to the fold?

I was unable to find either the lyrics or the author of this particular song in my research.  I came across this song on The Isaacs Bluegrass Preserved album.  Here’s link for you to enjoy.

There are two things I love about this song.  First is the imagery – i.e. the picture that the author paints in my mind.   When I read the words or listen to them sung, I get a picture of an Oklahoma wheat field at harvest time.  The wheat is tall.  The fields are full.  As the song goes “…the waving wheat, it sure smells sweet.”  That is the mental picture I get when I read these words.  Jesus also painted a picture of the harvest and this song references several of Jesus’ words and I love how they are woven into the lyrics.

“The harvest is white” – In John 4:35, Jesus said “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

“No laborers are working at all” – In Luke 10:2 Jesus said “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”

“Parable of the Lost sheep” – Jesus told this parable in Luke 15:4-7 “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.”

“Traded this world for your soul”  – Jesus said in Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

I was reminded of this hymn recently when my pastor, Robert McCready, asked a challenging question about how we as Christians relate to sinners.  He asked – “Do sinners repel us?”  Do their actions repulse us to the point that they cause us to separate ourselves from them?  To isolate ourselves completely from the lost.  He reminded the congregation that Jesus did not respond to sinners that way.  You will find Him sitting and talking to them.  Eating with them.  Inviting Himself over to their house for dinner.  Praying for them.  Healing them.  Jesus was not repulsed by sinners, but on the contrary, the Bible said He was moved with compassion for them.

I looked up the Greek word for “white” in John 4:35 and it has a couple of different meanings.  The Greek word is “leukos” which is where we get our word “leukemia” for a sickness in the “white” blood cells.  Leukos means “light, bright, brilliant” or “dazzling white” as in angelic garments, or it can relate to the “whitening colour of ripening grain.”

So let me ask you.  When you look at sinners, what do you see?  A brilliant white harvest?  Let me be a little more specific.  What do you see when you see a Muslim rally in Egypt or Syria?  Or an AIDS Prevention Rally in Washington DC?  Or a group of bike riders in Daytona Beach?  Do you see a field white for harvest?  Do you see a beautiful field?

I have been convicted by the preached words of my Pastor, by the Words of Scripture, and by the lyrics of this song.  The Lord is looking for those that recognize it’s harvest time.  The Lord is looking for laborers to work in the beautiful fields.  Will you be one of His workers today?  I pray that the Holy Spirit would convict each of us to have a passion for lost souls.  To fulfill the Great Commission to go into all the world.  Look around you.  Our world is filled with beautiful fields.