The Threshing Floor

"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.” - Matthew 3:12

That verse sounds like a description of what farmers did back in the day before there were threshing machines. And it is. But it is also a description of what Jesus will do to all the people of the earth. Guess what? We're the wheat!

When the wheat was harvested back in Jesus' day, it was brought to the threshing floor - a big, flat, hard place. The wheat was then arranged in a big circle and the wheat was separated from the chaff (the material surrounding the grains). This was done by crushing is with a weighted object that was pulled behind a donkey.

When the separating process was over the chaff was removed from the wheat. This was done by throwing it into the air with a winnowing fork and the wind blew the chaff away (a much light material). All that was left was the valuable wheat. The chaff was then discarded and burned.

But what was Jesus talking about in the verse above? He's talking about us. We're either the wheat or the chaff. Which one do YOU want to be? I'm choose the wheat. This verse was a parable of the end times.

I was thinking about this whole winnowing process in church yesterday as our pastor described it. I get the part about separating the wheat and the chaff. I'm caught on the grinding of the grain part. It occured to me that this parable could also be about us and our sin.

When a farmer sows his seed, the seed can do nothing until it germinates and takes root. To grow the seed needs water, sunshine and nutrients in the soil. But note this: the wheat that grows does so encased in the chaff already. The chaff surrounds the grain from birth so to speak.

Isn't the chaff like our sin? Jesus removes our sin by "grinding us" through this life we all live and wonderful grace. The whole maturing process of a human is different for every one of us. Yet the process of placing our faith in Christ is pretty much the same.

Sin, Repent, Pray.

We are all born in sin. The chaff surrounds us before we even leave the womb. Sin is a part of who we are. We go through life, learning and growing. Somewhere along the line we mature. We become aware of our sin through God's Word and the conviction of The Holy Spirit. Repentance is the key. We want to get rid of the chaff that surrounds us.

The moment we get that chaff out of our lives, the better off we will be. So, when we see Jesus coming with the winnowing fork in his hand, we can shout for joy! It's time for us to be gathered into His store house - heaven!