“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” John 4:34-36

Jesus’ disciples were concerned that He was neglecting physical nourishment. Prior to His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7-30), “His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food” (John 4:8). Their focus, understandably, was on physical food. Good nutrition is essential to physical health and life. Jesus, however, elevated nutrition to a higher level as He indicated that “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” This calls to mind His response to the devil’s temptation in the wilderness: “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ ” Matthew 4:4.

There is an immediacy to this “kingdom food” in that Jesus says that “the fields … are white for harvest.” Typically there is a period of waiting between planting and harvest, but spiritually there is always a present harvest. For those who are discerning spiritually, they will recognize that they are surrounded by those who exhibit a calling to God’s salvation offer through Christ.

The mention of harvest is especially significant. To harvest is to gather that which is ripe. The spiritual application is clear: Our Father, through Christ, has been at work in people’s lives such that they are now ready to be brought into the kingdom. As a friend shares that it has been impressed upon him, “the kingdom is ready; gather in my people.” Spiritual harvesting does not require persuasive words as though it were a sales presentation, but rather meeting those responsive where they are with appropriate scriptural truth. Such was the approach of Jesus, never utilizing a one-size-fits-all prepackaged presentation. The woman at the well is one outstanding example.

There is always an obvious need for physical nourishment, but do we have the true appetite of Jesus: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work”?

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