Winnnowing

8/31/10 I need more winnowing in my life. How ‘bout you? Mine might not be a winnowing of good and evil but more of a winnowing of good for better or unnecessary for necessary even in the mundane tasks of writing and speaking. 

I’m often too verbose when it comes to both writing and speaking. I need to "cut to the chase" as I write and "get to the point" when I talk, by getting rid of so many details. Today as I spent more time in Psalm 1, I noticed the stark contrast of the one who prospers and the ungodly one. Psalm one compares the godly man (one who meditates on the word) to firmly planted trees nourished by water. The ungodly man is like the chaff---the useless part of the seed or grain that is left after the winnowing.

A woman in Joy Gill's India winnows (separates) the grain from the useless chaff as it blows away. 

In other parts of scripture we see the useless chaff scattered as it is wind/gale driven, wind blown, storm driven and angel chased. 2 Kings 19 gives a real analogy of chaff in the lives of Hezekiah’s people who had been invaded by the Assyrians: “Leaving their people dispirited, slumped shoulders, limp souls. Useless as weeds, fragile as grass, insubstantial as wind-blown chaff.” (v. 26, The Message) The chapter goes on to assure God's deliverance for His own glory---that His people might be the opposite of chaff. 

 People have their hearts as good ground, so that His word might strike root, and bring forth fruit in their lives as “they sink down roots and rise up fruits.” (v.30) 

Sounds like Psalm 1:3, doesn't it? Winnowing gets rid of the chaff and allows God’s fruit to “blossom” in all our lives. Allow the Lord to help you look closely into your life to help you recognize and rid yourself of the chaff, the undesirable parts. It might take a close examination but the winnowing will be worth it as it frees you from the superfluous or the unnecessary or maybe even the bad. 

Winnowing certainly needs to be a bigger part of my "life" vocabulary.