Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Sept. 16/59

Contributor - Richard Van Farowe

Title - A Time To Pluck Up

Topic - Harvest

By the time this meditation reaches the readers of "Pioneer" the harvest season is well under way. Every where the "time to pluck up" has come. Various root crops, all kinds of grain, and the delicious fruits, all are being gathered. Solomon tells us that there is a season for everything, and he includes in that the time to plant and the time to pluck up. This book of Ecclesiastes shows us that life is empty when lived without God, and that only when God is in our lives do they take on meaning and purpose. Solomon concludes his message by saying, "Hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God-for God shall bring every work into judgment". (Eccl. 12 :13, 14)

There is a time to plant. This is true of every life, as well as being true in nature. This time to plant is the time of youth. It comes, roughly speaking, between the ages of childhood and 22 or 23. Then minds are clear and uncrowded. Impressions are easily made, and many deeds become habits. Such habits stand good chance of molding our characters.

There is also the time to "pluck up that which is planted". Every farmer knows that he plants in order to reap a crop some day. That is going on in this season. This all speaks of harvest, of the ending of a process which was earlier begun, of the fruition of hopes, of reaping what we have sown.

As such there are many lessons to learn. For one thing (1) when we pluck up we notice there is more than we planted. There has been growth and increase, under the blessing of God. It is that way too in spiritual things. When we sow either a good seed or bad seed in our lives it is bound to increase. 0h, the abundant harvest, now being gathered, should make us all thankful, but it also teaches that all things grow from small to great, from a beginning to an ending. For another thing (2) there is a similarity, when we pluck up, between the grain we sowed, and that which we reap. Like produces like. Paul uses this fact to warn us, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap". And, once again (3), we notice that the time to pluck up clearly shows a definite helplessness on the part of man. All he can do, after planting, is wait for the life to show itself. Man is not the giver of life or growth.

That is also true of the spiritual lives of our children. To become "rooted in Christ" (Col. 2 : 7) they must be born again by the power of God. Yet every harvest time, and every time of plucking up teaches us that there is a part which humans must play too. There must be sowing and faithful cleansing, and watering. 0h, the sowing times of life! Parents, preachers, Sunday School teachers are all engaged in that work. Let us do it faithfully, and to the glory of God.

There are opposing forces, such as weeds, insects, disease, abnormal weather conditions-the time of plucking up teaches that. There are such things, too, in spiritual cultivation. Primarily the great enemy is our own sinful nature. Then too there is every allurement of the world using our weakness to allure us. Many begin well, but like the care choked soil of the parable fail to bring forth fruit.

Reader, what are you planting? Remember a time is coming to 'pluck UP'. A sense of urgency hovers over every life. Every thought, word, and deed can have eternal results.

A well known preacher has a sermon entitled, 'Pay Day, Some Day', teaching that we can't escape the time when we must pluck up. Jesus said, in applying the parable of the Tares, "The harvest is the end of the world". John, on Patmos, (Rev. 14 :15) sees the angel, and hears the angel say, ',Thrust in the sickle and reap, for the time is come to reap; for the harvest of the earth is come."

"Gathered in time or eternity,

What, oh what will the harvest be?"

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