Chaff is something that I have read about in the Bible for years. I knew that when the Bible referred to chaff it was not a good thing. But I never really had a literal understanding of what chaff was and why it was so worthless.
I did a little research and I found out that chaff is the thin, filmy layer that surrounds grains like wheat and rice. Humans cannot eat chaff so it has to be removed from the wheat or rice through a process called threshing. Threshing involves tossing the grain so that the thin layer of chaff becomes loose, falls off, and is blown away. Threshing ultimately collects the valuable wheat or rice and discards the chaff.
Take a look at what John the Baptist says in Matthew 3: 11-12:
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
When John the Baptist spoke these words he was talking about Jesus coming to the earth in human form to live and teach people of God's kingdom and how God's people should live on earth. Jesus came to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins when He died on the cross for us. Those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are the wheat that will be gathered into the barn. Those who do not are like the chaff.
Each person decides whether he or she will be the wheat or the chaff. God has given us a free will to accept Him or not.
Isn't it amazing how God uses something insignificant like chaff to teach us about eternity?
Today's devotional made me think about the parable that Jesus taught on the wheat and the weeds. Many people think that they are "wheat" when actually they are "weeds". Matthew 13:24-29
ReplyDeleteBut God so desires us that He reveals this to us so that we may become "wheat".
Misconceptions like these are dangerous. That is why it is so important to get in the Bible and read these things so that no confusion exists! We shouldn't ever just take someone's word for it without reading it in the Bible for ourselves.
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