Bringing In the Sheaves
Joe Slater
	My dad was probably one of the last farmers in Colorado (or anywhere!) to stop using a binder. Others used combines for grain and balers for hay; but in the tradition of “use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without,” Dad used the old binder at times. Why spend money for a baler when you have a perfectly good binder (well, functional, anyway) out in the machinery lot? So, I actually know what “bringing in the sheaves” means! Soon after binding, we used to lean the sheaves upon each other to make a shock; then, later in the year, we would haul them in and either feed or thrash them.
	We still sing about “bringing in the sheaves” relative to a harvest of souls in the kingdom of God. The song accurately points out that if we are going to bring in any sheaves, we must first sow some seed. Dad used the binder on cane, sudan grass, oats, barley, etc. But never did he bind anything that hadn’t been planted first! (Obvious, huh?) Jesus taught that “the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). The soil is the human heart, and the harvest, if any, depends on the condition of the soil (heart). But there will be no harvest unless we sow the seed!
	We sing about sowing in the morning, the noontide, or the eve; sowing in all kinds of conditions (sunshine, shadows, cloudy skies, cold breezes). The third verse points out that sowing can be long, hard work; but the end result – the harvest – is worth the effort. Ask any farmer if conditions are always ideal for planting. Neither is there always an ideal time for approaching someone with the gospel. We ought to be like the Nike shoe commercial and “just do it”!
	Not every seed a farmer plants comes up; and not every person with whom we share the gospel will believe and obey. But unless we spread God’s word far more than we have been doing, harvest will be awfully slim!
	Will we come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves? There is no reason why we can’t! But the first order of business is to plant the seed. What say you?
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Good Advice
Walk like Enoch
Worship like Abel
Work like Nehemiah
Weep like Jeremiah
Obey like Job
Lead like Moses
Pray like Daniel
Win like Paul
Live like Christ
	-- Robert A. Glass; via Jacksonville, AL
Minding One’s Business
"So Peter, seeing him said to Jesus, 'Lord, and what about this man?'" (John 21:21).

	Noting the attention John had received from Jesus while signifying the kind of death he was to suffer, Peter turned around, wondering about John, and what he was being called to do.  Jesus, in much the same words as we'd speak, told him to mind his own business.  He was indicating to Peter, and you and me,  "Don't worry about how many others will be with Me, just be sure that you are!"

	 A magazine cartoon showed a fellow with a big bandage on the end of a rather bulbous proboscis and is saying, "Dear God, in the future please help me to keep my big nose out of other people's business."

	Yet there is what is definitely our business, though it concerns others.  If a brother continues to sin, it's our business to warn him (Galatians 6:1).  If brethren are lackadaisical or uninvolved in good works or stingy with the resources God has entrusted to them, it is our business to exhort them (Hebrews 10:24, 25).

	We must not ignore the lost of the world, for our orders are, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:16).  Since it is a command, it is our business.  We're minding our business by going fervently about the business God has given us to do.
       -- Gordon V. Herrmann (Santa Maria, CA)