By Tanya Jolliffe
During a couple of summers in high school, I took a job detasseling seed corn. It was a hard and hot job. We walked up and down the rows pulling tassels out of the top of the stalks from early morning until dinner time. We worked when it was 100 degrees and humid or pouring down rain. When the tassels were ready, they had to be pulled rain or shine. Removing some of the tassels was necessary to ensure quality seed for maximum production.
Hearing the talk of food shortages recently took me back to that job. As I remembered the work, I was reminded of the story in Matthew 3:12 (NIV), where John the Baptist talks about the one coming after him. “His winnowing fork in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Jesus separates the wheat from the chaff just as I separated the tassel from the stalk. He gathers the wheat into the barn and then burns up the chaff like what happens with the stalks and the tassels. The stalks are harvested so the corn can be gathered while the tassels are left behind in the fields at the end of the season.
While the story of separation in Matthew may seem difficult to swallow, Jesus takes it to a whole new level in John 6:56-58 (NIV). “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
God warned us that the separation we are now experiencing is necessary and intentional. There is much division, yet what if this is the process of separating the wheat from the chaff? What if it is separating those who are eating the bread that came from heaven from those looking for manna and worrying that none will be available? Perhaps this season of uncertainty is intended for us to open our eyes before it is too late? Are you worried that you won’t have food, formula, and diapers sitting on the store shelves when you want them, or are you at peace knowing the Lord will provide?
The Holy Spirit is moving through His church and separating the wheat and the chaff. This must take place. At the same time, our eyes are being opened to the truth. God uses many different methods to accomplish the separation necessary to unify His people. Are you paying attention? Do you need to get in the Word to find truth and peace? Grab and friend and download our FREE guide that provides a peer discipleship experience designed to take your spiritual journey to the next level. “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor” Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NIV).
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