I want to leave you with one phrase today, and that is simply, “lift up your eyes.” John chapter four, verse 35, such a beautiful passage. Jesus with the woman at the well, and he’s training the disciples about caring for the spiritual more than the physical. But then Jesus says these words, “say not ye there are yet four months, then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest.”

When I was in high school, I worked the rice harvest right after I graduated. And then the year after I graduated, I worked the rice harvest. And one of the things I learned about working the rice harvest, I drove the bank out wagon. And there was only so much time to get the harvest in, because if they waited too long, the rice could rot, it could fall to the ground and be lost. It reminds me that Jesus said, we must work while it is day, and that will soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last.

We only have one opportunity to reach a harvest of souls for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we’re not gonna do it if we have our heads down. That’s why Jesus said, “lift up your eyes.” It’s easy in this life to think about the cares of this world, something that needs to be fixed at the house, something that needs to be maintained on the car, a project that needs to be completed at work. It’s easy for us to start focusing on the things that are just materialistic, that next month won’t matter, but the reality is, when we get to heaven and we’re there for all eternity, I’ll tell you what will matter, are the souls we’re sending ahead. And Jesus said to the disciples, “lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest.”

I want to encourage you today, let’s lift up our eyes. When you sit at that stoplight today and you see all that traffic come through, think about the lives of those people. That person that you talked to at a restaurant or a drive-through, a driver, a drive-thru, a coworker, a neighbor. Think about their soul. Lift up your eyes and see them as Jesus sees them. And let’s be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

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John Evertson

John Evertson, GSBC Campus Pastor

In June 2000, after graduating from Golden State Baptist College, John Evertson answered the call to pastor West Valley Baptist Church in Woodland, California. After 19 years, God moved Pastor and Mrs. Evertson to Santa Clara. Pastor Evertson is instrumental in the church and serves as the Campus Pastor for Golden State Baptist College to help guide the future servants of God. Pastor & Mrs. Evertson have four children — Josiah, Jeremiah, Joy, and Joshua.