Chaff...Is it the same as weeds? A Gleaning from Luke 3: 15-18

In the days of Israel when John the Baptizer and Christ Jesus roamed the hills of Judea and Galilee, the threshing of wheat was vital to producing needed food and grain to eat and sustain life. And at harvest time, threshing...a violent act in itself...was essential to obtain the kernels of wheat....

 Here is how it worked: wheat stalks, when fully grown, would be beaten so the full kernels of wheat would be removed from the stalks, then a person would take a winnowing fork, throw the stalks up into the air, and the remaining kernels of wheat would fall to the ground, while the chaff that had covered the kernels...would blow away in the wind, separating what is useful to what is useless.
 In the Sacred Scriptures, chaff is regarded as useless when the time of harvest arrives. Yet, unlike thorns or weeds, which serve as symbols of sin...both in thought and daily behavior, and actually serve to choke out the young kernels of grain so they will not mature, chaff is an essential protection to the young grain  (in milk stage), so the kernels will grow into a full and healthy maturity.

 Chaff....Do we need "Chaff" in our lives? What is chaff anyways?

 Chaff is like a husk, that actually serves as a protection for the kernel as it grows and comes into a healthy maturity. Chaff simply covers the kernel from being destroyed from harsh weather, the heat of the sun, or being removed in its early stages. An ear of corn for example, without a husk, is totally useless and never develops into anything edible...the entire plant is cut down and thrown away.
 Chaff is simply a covering...to allow the kernel to grow.

Each one of us has chaff in our lives. We protect our growth in life with a system of beliefs, whether they are right or wrong, it helps us to develop a core of who we are, and a "zeal to pursue life" in whatever way we choose.
 Yet, from the Christian perspective, the Lord Jesus begins to challenge our "chaff", the belief system we have embraced. Chaff is not necessarily sin always, rather, it's our school of thought on life...our definitions of morality, treatment of one another, or even if God really exists.
 As we open ourselves to having our chaff challenged, by the urgings of the Holy Spirit, the chaff or protection we have surrounded ourselves in, begins to become less needed as we grow and mature. Then, the day arrives when we become mature...the day we receive Christ Jesus as our Savior...and equally important...our Lord.

 As Romans 5:1 declares: " We are now accepted by Our Father...because of our decision to put our trust, our hope, and our faith...including our zeal for life...putting all this into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, the very son of the Father. Because of our decision to do so, we now enjoy His Peace...the knowing all is well between us...God and us."

 And, just as harvest time comes for the kernels of wheat, a time of separating the chaff from the kernels of wheat, so we have come to a point where the chaff of our very lives (our former thoughts and systems of belief) are now let go...for we are now His...and we can be used as healthy kernels to feed others. Our former thoughts....questions like "Does God care?, or "Is there a real purpose to my life?"...Can God rewrite the texts of my life...and find meaning?"....are blown away in the wind....for His very Son has answered all these questions...and more!
 Does this all happen all at once? No, but as we are threshed and find our lives in "His barn"...the zeal for life begins to take shape.
 After all, when the Israelites had crossed the River Jordan in a miraculous way and set foot on the Promised Land...they still had to conquer the land.

 Chaff...we all have it and has served to cover us as we grow in life...yet as we allow the Christ room in our hearts to give us the healthy nutrients we need to grow in becoming strong kernels, there comes the day we no longer need the chaff to cover us.... for now we are covered...in Him.

                                    A Gleaning from Luke 3: 15-18

 " The crowd gathered around John the Baptizer (some versions call him "the dipper"..but I just don't think John used Skoal...do you? lol), they were now in suspense and an excitement filled the air. They began to reason among themselves and questions began to emerge from their very hearts: "Could it be that John...is the Messiah?"
 Yet John addressed this question and others from the people gathered saying: " Look, I baptize you here...in water...in the River Jordan. The main character in all this, of which I am but a stagehand, will ignite the Kingdom into our lives..a holy fire...the Holy Spirit being within you...that has the power to change you...from the inside out!
 The One coming is much more powerful than I, so much  that I am not in my own merits in life... even qualified to be His slave and untie His sandals. For the time has come to separate the grains of wheat from the chaff, the time has come for Him to thresh the stalks of wheat and separate the kernels from the stalk and use His willowing fork to be raised and the chaff in our lives blown away. Then, He will clean up what remains on the threshing floor, and store the kernels into His barn...His kingdom, while the stalks and chaff will be burned and thrown away."

 And there were many various ways...John the Baptizer brought the Good News...to the people."