Hay bale-in' time is here!  It might be a bit late for some, but it seems we've finally found a couple of dry days for many farmers to finish up the hot, dusty process!  I'm sure there are a few sitting in front of a good fan or AC tonight feeling good to have that job behind them!  There is also a sense of accomplishment and a great looking field or two out there tonight!  

There is a lot to be said for hard work and endurance to the end!  I am sure it crossed Jesus' mind in that dark, lonely garden, where He agonized before enduring the cross, to want to quit before the completion of His mission here on earth.  Thankfully for us all, He made the choice to follow through to the end.  

It is pretty amazing what we can do when we believe in something and choose to complete a particular goal.  Sacrifice costs plenty, but when offered for the sake of another, always pays big dividends.  Harvesting hay is hot, dirty work!  However, it provides much for livestock needing to get through the winter, which in turn will actually sustain us!  

Christianity is a choice.  It requires obedience and often a measure of sacrifice and hard work.  There might be varied levels of ridicule, rejection and even persecution to those who embrace it.  It is not the popular choice of the world.  It goes against the grain of humanity and our fleshly interests.  Some have actually been killed - simply for choosing to love a God who first loved us!!  It is a choice of peace that somehow stirs great hostility and even violence.  But it is a choice that involves great reward!  There will not be a better sound than when we hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant" from the One who has promised the sower an eternal harvest!  

"...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12: 1-2