Written and posted by Jean-Louis Mondon. http://thelightseed.blogspot.com
(To read the preceding and following
chapters, click on the right lateral bar on the numbered chapters under
the title "The Seasons in the Life of a Christian" - Brokenness.)
II. PLANTING
II. PLANTING
After
the ground was ready, the farmer planted wheat in its place (there is a
particular soil and a different planting pattern that is best for
certain seeds): wheat seeds were planted in lined furrows, apart to
insure larger and fuller ears. (v.25) All this knowledge must come from
God, the only one capable of teaching men to properly understand the
world which He created and the ways in which His creation must work
together to bring about His desired purpose. (v.26).
Taken
from the Christian perspective, it is our Lord who plants us where He
wants us. We must grow (toward God) and die (to ourselves) wherever He
plants us to produce in the end a fruitful harvest for His purpose and
His glory.
“Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He
that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:24,25).
III. THRESHING (The natural self)
Threshing occurs to separate the wheat from the chaff. The grain has already been planted, harvested, and now is being prepared in this separation process for yet another necessary step in the life of the grain of wheat. It must be threshed in order to, later on, be ground into flour so that the baker can use it to bake the loaf of bread. The threshing requires a specific instrument for a specific type of grain. Not all grains are threshed in the same manner. “For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cumin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cumin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised”. (King James).
In the olden days, wheat used to be beaten manually to separate it from the chaff and then tossed up in the air so that the wind would carry it away. Nowadays we use mechanical or electric threshers.
Threshing occurs to separate the wheat from the chaff. The grain has already been planted, harvested, and now is being prepared in this separation process for yet another necessary step in the life of the grain of wheat. It must be threshed in order to, later on, be ground into flour so that the baker can use it to bake the loaf of bread. The threshing requires a specific instrument for a specific type of grain. Not all grains are threshed in the same manner. “For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cumin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cumin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised”. (King James).
In the olden days, wheat used to be beaten manually to separate it from the chaff and then tossed up in the air so that the wind would carry it away. Nowadays we use mechanical or electric threshers.
Oswald
Chambers insightfully perceives that “Individuality is the husk of the
personal life… It separates and isolates. The shell of individuality is
God’s created natural covering for the protection of the personal life;
but individuality must go in order that the personal life may come out
and be brought into fellowship with God. The characteristics of
individuality are independence and self-assertiveness. The thing in you
that will not be reconciled to your brother is your individuality. God
wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing
to give up your right to yourself He cannot.” (See Oswald Chambers, My
Utmost for His Highest, Dec. 11th. On individuality.)
God
uses circumstances and people to show us what needs to be taken out of
our lives as chaff, so He can blow it off and use the kernel of wheat,
the good nutritious part to be food for others. But according to Isaiah
28:28, God who is as gracious as He is practical says that “one does not go on threshing it forever”. Thank God, “his
anger lasts only a moment, but his favor last a lifetime; weeping may
remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”. (Psalm 30:5).
However,
the next step in the process of being broken is also painful, though
different. There is an increase in the intensity of the breaking. As an
example, compare the two stages in the sorrow of Abraham, first when he
had to let go of his son Ishmael with his mother Hagar, and later on
when God asked him to sacrifice the son of the promise, Isaac. Anyway,
nothing in this world can compare to the grief the Father felt when He
had to abandon His beloved son Jesus as He offered Himself as a
sacrifice to take our place on the cross as a ransom for our salvation.
To be continued.
To be continued.
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