By Vikki Williams

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

"She came out of the womb looking for people. And not just mom! She had to locate dad in the room and siblings!” The mother laughed as she recalled her daughter's birth, adding that it was still true to this day when her now teenage daughter among friends. As I listened to the story, I thought, “That sounds like someone even more extroverted than I!”

I can imagine a tiny newborn baby girl craning her head around to see all the people in the room, and II think, “Just like me.” You see, I am crazy about my brothers and sisters--my brothers and sisters in Christ. Some Sundays, I crane my head around to see who is sitting in the other pews and the balconies. And I think, “Wow, a lot of these people are Christians. Why should I be allowed to have so many brothers and sisters?” So many.

And then there are more brothers and sisters from tribes and tongues and nations. So many.

Sometimes I laugh to myself that God decided to save so many people just so I can have soooo many brothers and sisters. But of course, that’s not true. First, they are for Jesus Christ. Yet if believers “give themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us,” (2 Corinthians 8:5), we gain an even greater portion of these friends' hearts than otherwise possible.

And not only does he give me a larger portion of the hearts of Christians I know, but also the many, many souls “who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8) whom I will not meet before that Day, and as a great throng we will worship God together, unhindered, endlessly.

I crave the harmony and affection of those many brothers and sisters in that Day.

This is the harvest I yearn for.