November 2

Read: Matthew 3:11-12

He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost… and gather his wheat into the garner (Matthew 3:11-12).

He Will Gather His Wheat

“The figurative language of this scripture refers to the threshing process of that time. On the smooth, leveled top of a convenient hill the threshing floor was located. The grain was trodden out by oxen or beaten out with flails. The mixture of straw, chaff, and grain was then repeatedly tossed into the air with a ‘fan’ or shovel. The chaff, which the wind blew away, was later burned.

“For years I read this passage and passed over the central fact in it, the truth that Christ ‘will gather his wheat into the garner.’ To many, the vivid language of these verses speaks only of dividing, subtracting, and burning. They are left with the image of a smoking cinder as the symbol of their own fire-baptized hearts. But only the chaff is burned, and this only in order that the wheat — the genuine values in personality — may be garnered and set to use.

“There is potential in our personalities which only God can discern. There are possibilities of grace, dormant talents, buried treasure within believers’ lives. But they are largely useless because as yet encased in the chaff of an unsanctified nature. The baptism with the Holy Spirit will provide the basis to bring to realization the personality possibilities known to the Spirit, but otherwise forever lost. This baptism with the Holy Spirit is essentially positive, liberating, and value-producing” (A. E. Airhart).

Prayer For Today

Spirit of God, accomplish Thy will in me. Separate and destroy the chaff. Gather and preserve all that can be of use to Thee. In Jesus” name I ask it. Amen.