My wife and I watch Law & Order reruns sometimes. Usually there are interesting plot twists as clues are uncovered and the detectives try to discover who had the motive and opportunity to commit the crime.
We read in the gospel of Luke how John the Baptist points the way to Jesus as the true Messiah saying, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:15-17).
I learned that farmers would let the wheat and chaff (weeds) grow together and then it would all be harvested together and put on the threshing floor. Then the farmer would take the winnowing fork and toss the wheat and chaff into the air. The chaff is lighter and would blow away while the heavier wheat would fall back to the ground – the useful was separated from the useless.
I have usually understood this scripture as it refers to salvation with Jesus separating the saved from the unsaved. Recently, however, I heard a sermon with a different, yet helpful perspective that applies to our motives and our daily walk with Christ.
Often, we try to sort through our motives on our own, but it is Jesus who holds the winnowing fork, not us. He can separate the good from the bad, the light from the dark. Don’t misunderstand me; this doesn’t let us off the hook in examining ourselves and our motives. Instead, it is a call to stay near to Christ and let Him transform us, separating the good from the bad in our hearts.
As Jesus sorts out our motives, helps us grow spiritually, and live the Kingdom life He desires for us, we will have greater opportunities to point others to Him.
