Harvest Thanksgiving 2026: 04 10 26
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Deuteronomy 8.7-18
NEW TESTAMENT READING: 2 Corinthians 9.6-end
GOSPEL Luke 12.16-30
The church celebrates Harvest thanksgiving every year so joyfully. This is a tradition from the Old Testament times. God expects people to celebrate Harvest with thanksgiving, it is given as a religious law.
Why should so much of importance be given to Harvest. Harvest is about the most important thing in life. The most important thing for existence is food. We cannot be alive without food. Not only us as human beings. All creatures need food to be alive. It is not only to be alive, but through food we receive energy to be active, in food we also receive immunity to diseases, through food we also receive healing. When God created the world, he has created food for all. Food is the grace of God. That is why we say Grace before we begin to eat food.
Harvest Festival is very special because it gives us an opportunity to look at the earth and the creation. The earth and its fullness generate food for all. Food is possible also because farmers toil on the earth and the fruit of their labour is the goodness of the earth which makes life possible. We also remember the farmers and all those who work in the fields planting, caring, protecting and harvesting with such care.
We give thanks to God for the earth and its resources; we remember all the farmers and others who are involved in food production and thank God for them.
In the book of Deuteronomy which is a compilation of laws that God gave to the people of Israel, we read the importance of the Harvest Festival. It was incorporated into the laws because Harvest thanksgiving festival is a festival of faith. It was mandatory for the people of Israel who have been led out of a life of slavery in Egypt into a promised land. God wanted people to constantly reflect on the way their lives and their destiny changed by the grace of God. The people of Israel were required to take their first fruits to the temple and stand before God’s presence and ascribe all glory and honour to God. In the Old Testament reading we heard God telling people, ‘Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today’. Harvest celebration is a celebration of the goodness of God in the lives of the people.
Harvest thanksgiving is such a meaningful festival. It is a time of the year when we turn our hearts to God with a profound sense of thanksgiving and gratitude because God is our provider who provides us food that makes life possible.
We thank God for the earth and nature, which generates so much of food for us humans and for the entire created order.
Harvest time reminds us that the earth and all that is in it belongs to God. We are only given the privilege to care for the earth and benefit from it. We are accountable to God for all that we have received.
Jesus our lord teaches us how we should live our lives appreciating nature and even learning from it.
He teaches us to live with contentment and also to be mindful of the needs of other people. He teaches us to live depending on God and in a loving relationship with God and submit to God’s authority and purpose.
Harvest is not only a time of gathering but also a time for giving. St. Paul tells us whatever we have received is not only for ourselves but also to share with others. We need to be generous to others remembering that God has been generous to us.
This harvest time we thank God for the earth and its goodness and we also recommit ourselves to God and affirm that life belongs to God. We dedicate ourselves to be faithful stewards of God’s creation and respect the earth and as we rejoice in receiving we also rejoice in giving to people in need.