Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving forward in our journey through Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled, we come to a prophecy that I had a difficult time deciding where to place in our year together. On one hand, this prophecy that’s found in the book of Isaiah would fit nicely within the group of prophecies that focus on Jesus’ mission and death. However, there is another aspect of this prophecy that gets fulfilled near the beginning of Jesus’ time on earth.

For this second reason, I pulled this prophecy up to this week, and placed it here, at the point in our prophecies right after Jesus arrives on earth to help give us a frame and an understanding of why He came to this planet of sinners.

Let’s read the prophecy, then unpack some of the details shared within it. Our prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 59, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 12, which is part way into this prophecy, Isaiah writes:

¹² For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
¹⁴ Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
^15a Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.

Pausing reading our prophecy, I cannot help but see in what we just read a description of our world today. However, I suspect that what is described here could be relevant to most points in time in history, and I suspect that the first century when Jesus walked the earth, and also the century several hundred years before this when Isaiah was alive could be described this way.

However, let’s continue with this prophecy to discover what God does with the world in this state. Picking back up in the second half of verse 15, we read:

^15b Now the Lord saw,
And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
¹⁸ According to their deeds, so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰ “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

²¹ “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

In this prophecy, after seeing that there was no way for humanity to redeem itself, God decides to take matters into His own hands and step into history as a Redeemer. Looking out at the inhabitants of this planet, from God’s perspective, there was no one available who could intercede on our behalf to fix the sin problem. Because of this, God decided that He would send Himself, specifically Jesus, one member of the Godhead, to intercede for us and be the Redeemer for humanity.

At the very beginning of Jesus’ time on this planet as a baby, Luke’s gospel describes a fascinating encounter Jesus and His earthly parents have when they go to dedicate Him in the temple a few days after His birth. In Luke, chapter 2, starting in verse 25, we read:

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹ “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
³¹ Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

³³ And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— ³⁵ and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. ³⁸ At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Joseph and Mary enter the temple, they are greeted by two people who have amazing things to say about Jesus. The first person Luke’s gospel describes as a man, Simeon. For most of my growing up life, I had pictured Simeon as the priest on duty that day, but nothing in Luke’s gospel suggests this.

Instead, Simeon happens to be a somewhat regular guy who had an extra-close relationship with God. Luke’s gospel describes Simeon having the Holy Spirit in his life, and Simeon speaks a prophetic word over Jesus’ life and ministry.

Anna, who is called a prophetess, was also there, and while we don’t know exactly what she said, she drew the attention of everyone present onto Jesus and who He was.

Here at the opening of Jesus’ time on earth, we find a partial fulfillment of the covenant promise found at the end of Isaiah’s prophecy. “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Looking at Jesus’ life and ministry, He came to be our Savior, our Intercessor, and our Redeemer. While there was nothing we could do to break free from the grip of sin, because of Jesus, and through the help of God’s Holy Spirit, we can leave sin in our past and live a redeemed life with God. When we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, and live with and for God in this life, drawing close to Him, we prepare ourselves for eternity when we will live with God in the new heaven and new earth forever.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life. Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and lean on Him as your Redeemer and Intercessor. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross pays the debt our sin caused, and when we let Jesus, He is happy to pay this debt when we choose to align our lives with God while also turning away from sin.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow personally closer to Jesus each and every day. Through regular prayer and Bible study, discover how God loves you personally and just how far He is willing to go to redeem you from the sin that has infected this world.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Luke describes the early part of Jesus’ ministry, we read about a visit Jesus takes to His hometown of Nazareth, and specifically to the synagogue that He likely grew up attending.

However, this visit was different. All the times before this, Jesus’ time in this synagogue had been out of the spotlight and prior to His baptism while Jesus was simply learning and practicing carpentry with Joseph. Now, following Jesus’ baptism and trip into the desert to be tempted, we find Jesus returning to Nazareth for a visit after having left the family business and stepping into the role and mission God had sent Him into this world to accomplish.

But things were different. Word had been spreading about what Jesus was doing, and it made the people who saw Jesus grow up a little confused. Let’s read about what happened.

Our passage is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 4, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 16, Luke tells us that:

¹⁶ Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as he usually did. He stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. Jesus unrolled it and found the right place. There it is written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
    He has anointed me
    to announce the good news to poor people.
He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners.
    He has sent me so that the blind will see again.
He wants me to set free those who are treated badly.
¹⁹     And he has sent me to announce the year when he will set his people free.”

²⁰ Then Jesus rolled up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were staring at him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this passage of Scripture is coming true as you listen.”

²² Everyone said good things about him. They were amazed at the gracious words they heard from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

²³ Jesus said, “Here is a saying you will certainly apply to me. ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me this. ‘Do the things here in your hometown that we heard you did in Capernaum.’ ”

²⁴ “What I’m about to tell you is true,” he continued. “A prophet is not accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ I tell you for sure that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. And there had been no rain for three and a half years. There wasn’t enough food to eat anywhere in the land. ²⁶ But Elijah was not sent to any of those widows. Instead, he was sent to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel who had skin diseases in the days of Elisha the prophet. But not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were very angry when they heard that. ²⁹ They got up and ran Jesus out of town. They took him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They planned to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

When reading this event, I am always amazed at how those in the Nazareth synagogue are so excited about Jesus’ opening words as He is reading from Isaiah’s writing, but they immediately turn on Jesus for sharing some difficult truths. It is as though they were waiting for a reason to doubt Jesus, or perhaps Jesus was waiting for a moment to challenge who they believed Him to be.

The hinge moment in this entire event is one comment that the Jews in this synagogue ask themselves about Jesus. In verse 22, Luke tells us that those in the Nazareth synagogue asked themselves, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Perhaps this question is a valid question. Perhaps those in the Nazareth synagogue did not know about the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth. It is possible that Mary and Joseph had kept the secret of Jesus’ birth quiet and those in this Nazareth synagogue believed Jesus to be like any other person in their midst.

However, it is also possible that Mary and Joseph had told those in this synagogue the extraordinary birth of Jesus, the escape to Egypt, and how God had called them back to Nazareth after it was safe to return. If this was the case, then it also wouldn’t surprise me to learn that those in Nazareth were skeptical of what Mary and Joseph told them. I wouldn’t hesitate thinking that many in the synagogue preferred to think Jesus was Mary and Joseph’s biological son.

However, Jesus uses this rhetorical question as an opportunity to challenge those present. While Jesus does make some negative predictions specifically about those in the Nazareth synagogue, the message Jesus refreshes their mind with from Israel’s past is fascinating to me. It is in the anger that we see when Jesus shares historical fact that reveals the character of those present, and what Jesus shared interestingly enough proves His point just as strongly as the rejection He faced.

The big point Jesus wants to emphasize for us is in verse 24 when He says, “A prophet is not accepted in his hometown.” Jesus uses this truth to emphasize and predict what those in this synagogue would do minutes later.

However, the examples Jesus shares don’t appear to support this key point. Jesus then shares two of the most famous prophets in Israel’s history helping people outside of Israel while people in Israel were suffering. In Elijah’s case, the famine was caused by the rebellion of the king, and the land was being punished. It is hard to say what a widow living in Israel would have done if Elijah has shown up. She would have faced the dilemma of helping Elijah or turning him over to the king. In Elisha’s case, we discover a miraculous healing of a Syrian official, when there were obviously people in need in Israel.

On the surface, the examples Jesus shared amplify God’s love for those outside of the Jewish nation. However, it doesn’t really speak negatively about the Jews themselves. In contrast, the message Jesus shared directly conflicted with the egotistical, self-inflated view the Jews had of themselves, which said God would bless them for who they were and not for what they were currently doing. Jesus challenged them with these examples.

However, under the surface, we see these examples showing how God’s people rejected His prophets. In the days of Elijah’s famine, the people of Israel had sided with the king of Israel who had rejected and rebelled against God. If a widow loyal to God earnestly hunted for Elijah to ask for help, I’m confident God would have helped the widow’s search to be successful. In the case of Elijah and the famine, the people of Israel rejected the clear prophet God had sent them.

In the days of Elisha, nowhere do we see someone with skin diseases coming to ask Elisha for help. It takes the captive slave of a foreign officer to suggest he goes to see Elisha to ask for help. And even after receiving instructions, it takes Naaman’s advisors to convince Naaman to actually follow through with the relatively simplistic instructions. While Naaman is the only one healed of the skin disease he had during this era of history, I don’t believe it was because God was punishing everyone else, but that no one else had been determined to ask for God and the prophet’s help.

Those living in Nazareth at the time had the opportunity of a lifetime in front of them. They had the opportunity to be the first group of Jews to accept a prophet who had grown up among them even when all the evidence and history pointed the other way. In the same way, when God sends people into our lives, it is possible He will use strangers, but it is also possible He will use those closest to us to help us turn our lives back to Him.

When God sends someone into our life, we would be wise to pay attention and accept the message leading us back to God!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue purposefully seeking God first in your life. Choose to accept the people and messages He sends to us and choose to turn your heart, your mind, your life, and your will back to God. Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and what He accomplished for us on our behalf.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and open your heart to God. While other people can have interesting and useful ideas, choose to filter everything you hear and read through the truth of God’s Word the Bible! God has blessed and protected the Bible for us and He has gifted the Bible to us so we can learn His truth for our lives!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or reject where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we move forward in our year looking at Old Testament prophecies that point forward to Jesus, we come to one that draws our attention onto the place where Jesus would be born. In a fascinating way, from one of the least assuming prophets in the Old Testament, we find a prophecy about the Messiah coming from one of the least significant locations in all of Israel and Judah.

This prophecy is found in the book of Micah, in chapter 5, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 2, Micah writes prophetically:

² “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
³ Therefore He will give them up until the time
When she who is in labor has borne a child.
Then the remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
⁴ And He will arise and shepherd His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.

In these few verses, we discover how it seems as though God chose Bethlehem because it was small to be the birthplace for the Messiah. From the way Micah describes the Messiah’s birthplace, I get the picture that God likes to draw focus onto places and people that others could easily overlook.

However, in an even more amazing turn of events, more than just Bethlehem, the place prophesied to be the birth location of the Messiah, turns out to be God drawing attention to the otherwise non-glamorous.

Jumping forward into the New Testament, to the time of Jesus’ birth as recorded in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, we read a short summary of Jesus’ birth. Staring in verse 4, Luke tells us that:

⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

From the way Luke describes Mary and Joseph, I don’t get the impression that anything about this young couple was special or significant on the surface. While Mary plays a key role in Jesus’ entry into this world, had she not been chosen for this task, I doubt anyone would have even remembered her beyond a generation or two outside of her family tree.

However, because God chose to use this couple when deciding to step into history, Mary and Joseph are forever remembered in the timeline of history. God likes to elevate the otherwise unknown, and place them in His spotlight.

Moving to Jesus’ birth event in Matthew’s gospel, we discover how this prophecy was known by those at the highest levels of the Jewish faith, because as we will read in a minute, the religious leaders in Jerusalem voluntarily provide the information to Herod about where the Messiah would be born.

Reading from Matthew, chapter 2, starting in verse 1, we learn that:

¹ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

In this amazing event, not only do we find travelers from the east, possibly from Babylon or somewhere in that region coming to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, but we also have the religious elite of that generation appearing to be completely unaware that anything significant was happening.

The reason this is significant in my mind is that these religious leaders openly, willingly, and without any hesitation tell Herod the location of the Messiah’s birthplace. If these religious leaders believed the time of the Messiah’s birth to be imminent, then I would suspect that they would have been a little less open sharing this information with someone who was known for openly killing any potential opposition. Herod had the reputation for killing first and then asking questions later, and as we will uncover in a later prophecy and podcast episode, what begins in this portion of Matthew ends with a miracle tucked within a tragedy.

However, stepping back to the big themes of this prophecy, I cannot escape the truth that God likes to use and draw attention to people, places, ideas, and things that are easily overlooked by others. While the logical location for the Messiah’s birth would be in Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel and Judea, this is not what happened.

The wise men who came looking for Jesus may have suspected that Jesus would be born in Jerusalem, or they may have traveled there simply because they didn’t know exactly where the star they were following would take them. In their minds, I suspect that since the star appeared to be taking them towards Jerusalem, they may have believed that Jerusalem would either be the place they would find the Messiah, or that Jerusalem would be the place where they would learn where they could ultimately find the Messiah.

Everything in Jesus’ birth story shines the light on what otherwise would be normal and insignificant. In our own lives and stories, while God is capable of using us for great things, more often than not, any and every great thing He uses us for will be built on the foundation of the simple, ordinary, not-glamorous habits that simply draw us into connection with Him.

However, just because our lives might not be spectacular, and our spiritual habits may at times won’t feel significant or special, we can trust that God has not forgotten us, and that His timing is best from eternity’s perspective. God loves to shine the spotlight on the ordinary when the ordinary has been laid on a foundation He can use!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open these challenges by saying, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to focus on growing closer to Him using the simple, not glamorous habits of prayer, reading your Bible, and listening. While sometimes it may feel as though God’s silence means He is also absent, this could not be further from the truth. God is always with us whether we feel like He is or not, and we open our hearts to His when we open our lives to His Word.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, because God wants a personal relationship with you. For your relationship with God to be personal, don’t let others step into the role of middle-men. Instead, let other people share ideas with you, then bring these ideas to God in prayer and study and allow Him to lead you into His truth.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through Luke’s gospel, we discover that after Luke describes Jesus’ childhood, Luke then transitions back to talking about Jesus’ forerunner in ministry, John the Baptist. However, to set the stage for the rest of his gospel, Luke gives us a historical overview of the state of the empire and the state of Judea by letting us know exactly when the events in the rest of his gospel occurred.

Let’s read this passage, and discover how Luke sets the stage for Jesus beginning His ministry. Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 3, and we will read from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. ³ Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. ⁴ Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!
⁵ The valleys will be filled,
    and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
    and the rough places made smooth.
⁶ And then all people will see
    the salvation sent from God.’”

⁷ When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? ⁸ Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. ⁹ Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ The crowds asked, “What should we do?”

¹¹ John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”

¹² Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³ He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.”

¹⁴ “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.

John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”

¹⁵ Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” ¹⁸ John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

In this passage, we discover that John was not a pushover preacher, but he also was not a judgmental preacher either. John’s preaching cut straight to the heart of God’s message and intent for His people.

While reading Luke’s description of John’s message to the people, three verses stood out in my mind and these three verses together paint a powerful picture of what God’s ideal is for those who want to turn away from sin and return to Him.

A surface reading of John’s preaching might make John sound like the first angry street preacher. However, John’s message is different. John subtly assumed something about those who came to listen to him that might be easy to miss if we aren’t paying attention. In verse 7, when the crowds of people came to John to be baptized, John challenges them by calling them snakes before saying, “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?” John assumed that those coming to listen to him and those who wanted to be baptized were coming because God was drawing them to him. I doubt John responded well to passive listeners to his preaching.

At the heart of John’s message was a message of returning to God before it was too late. While John might sound extreme in what he challenges the people by saying, nothing John tells the people is impossible or outside of God’s will. John’s message is summarized with two phrases found in verses 8 and 9, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God…Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

When asked by specific people what God would want them to do, John has a clear, practical response. In John’s response to those present, we discover that God desires to see compassion for others above saving for the future, about working honestly and uprightly even if we are in a work environment that is full of corruption, and to be content with what God has blessed us with.

This summary is found in John’s response to the crowds, the tax collectors, and to the soldiers who asked what God wanted from them. If we choose to live lives that are defined by showing compassion for others above saving for our own future and lives that are lived honestly while also being content, then we will be living lives in alignment with John’s message to the people. Living like John describes proves to the world that we are living for God and not for ourselves and that we have repented.

The last phrase I want to focus briefly on in John’s message is found in verse 17. After describing that the Messiah God is sending will baptize the people with fire while he only baptizes with water, John brings a visual illustration into this warning, saying the coming Messiah “is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”

While some people understand the fire in this verse to literally never end, as this translation frames this idea, a better way to describe it would probably be an unstoppable fire. This fire is reserved for the chaff which was separated from the wheat. While some might consider this illustration describing different groups of people, with one group representing the wheat and another group representing the chaff, there is a different way we can understand this illustration.

On a stalk of wheat, there is grain and there is chaff. The grain is useful while the chaff is not. In our own lives, there are things that are valuable and things that are valueless. When we return to God, I believe He wants to separate the valuable parts of our lives from the valueless parts of our lives. God wants to redeem the parts of our lives that are significant, important, and special, while He wants to completely remove and eliminate the parts of our lives that are worthless.

The challenge for us then is to align ourselves with God and let Him work in our lives discarding the things that He knows are worthless. If we want to hold on to something that God is planning on throwing into the unstoppable fire, we run the risk of choosing to be consumed by the fire with something that is worthless. While God won’t stop us from making this choice, God is much more interested in helping us give up the things in our lives that are worthless from eternity’s perspective.

John the Baptist warned the crowds about the coming judgment, but far from being judgmental, John challenged people to return to God before it was too late! While we don’t have to be as forward or direct as John was, let’s live our lives in a way that proves we have returned to God and in a way that doesn’t let any worthless things in life steal our focus away from that which is priceless. The most valuable thing God has blessed us with is our hearts, and while our hearts are stained with sin, God wants to clean, fix, and recreate new hearts within us that reflect His heart for us!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and purposefully give your heart to Him. Let God clean your life and discard what He knows is worthless while letting Him redeem the things in your life He knows are valuable. God knows your life better than you do, and God has a plan for your life that is bigger than you could ever imagine! Discover what God has in mind for you by letting Him lead and direct your life moving forward into the future.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow and discover what God wants to teach you. Through the pages of the Bible, discover how we can open our hearts to God and invite Him into our lives!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!