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John 4:34-36

³⁴"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.

When Jesus stopped at Jacob's well, the disciples went to buy food. When they returned Jesus was sharing with the Samaritan woman. The woman went to tell her testimony to the town's people, and they came out to hear Jesus for themselves. Many of them believed that Jesus was the Savior of the world. This is the first time during Jesus' ministry that people realized that the Messiah had not come for the Jews alone.

The disciples tried to get Jesus to eat the food they had purchased, but Jesus told them that He had food that they did not know about. They wondered if someone else had brought Him something. Here again we have the physical misinterpretation applied to the spiritual. Jesus saw the world in analogies, and His Spirit filled disciples will one day see the world in that light also.

Then Jesus explained to them that His food was doing the will of God and completing the work He was assigned. He was so absorbed in sharing the light of the Gospel with these receptive people that food was the last thing on His mind. This spiritual work was a much greater priority than eating. He illustrated the need by having the disciples see the people that had come to hear Him as a crop of ripe grain. From planting to harvest is usually four months, but Jesus is saying the planting and the harvest of souls had come together. This woman shared her testimony, and that was the planting. Now her people came to believe in Jesus, and that is the harvest. Jesus is saying, "Look, we must be busy earning heavenly wages for work in the ripe field. We can harvest in joy and share our joy with the one that planted. How can you think about food at a time like this? This work is a more satisfying food." Look around you. The fields are ready for harvest. Are you too absorbed dealing with your daily bread?

Remember: When the opportunity is before you, leave everything else and work in the field.