1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree [firmly] planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Psalm 1:1-4
When I think of repentance, I think of it as something good rather than something to be dreaded. Jesus said in Luke 5:32 in the NASB, ”I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” The word ‘repentance’ literally means ‘to change one’s mind’. I prefer to think of repentance as agreeing with God!
When meditating on the word repentance, I was amazed at how much it reminded me of the old ways of separating the grain from the chaff. Chaff is the unnecessary debris left from the stalks and seed casings and winnowing was the method used to separate the grain from the chaff when grain was harvested in the days before modern harvesting machines and equipment.
Once the grain - like wheat, for instance - was harvested, the farmer would take a winnowing fork or shovel-like implement and cast a scoop of the grain into the air. Once airborne, the wind would blow through the grain and anything not a part of the seed would be blown away leaving just the desired grain to fall to the ground.
The picture I saw in my mind was one of my heart being cast before the wind of the Holy Spirit. No man can do that for me. This is another aspect of trust - to be willing to bare my heart to the Father and cast myself before Him. This allows impurities to be brought into the light and blown away by the wind of the Spirit. This is a position of and an act of humility and complete trust. I cannot even trust myself - but I must trust myself to the Holy Spirit.
[Psa 1:1-4 NASB] 1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree [firmly] planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Let’s throw our hearts to the wind of the Spirit today and allow him to blow away any lies of the enemy…blow away any cares we are not casting upon Him…to blow away anything we do not need that does not glorify Him in some way. Repentance is a good thing.
John the Baptist said of Jesus in [Mat 3:11-12 NASB] 11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
May we throw our hearts to the wind of the Holy Spirit today and allow Him to blow away the chaff - the debris - of our lives and our thoughts and bring us into a deeper place of healing and strength and understanding of our identity in Him than every before.
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to a podcast regarding this teaching, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-throw-my-heart-to-the-wind/
Image courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/heart-hands-food-grains-cereals-1394204/