“His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.”. Matthew 3:12 HCSB
While my garden is growing in the summer I water it, fertilize it, weed it, and pick the vegetables for cooking and eating. As summer comes to a close, the brisk cool winds of fall begin and the leaves begin to turn their brilliant red and yellow colors. The plants in my garden may still have green leaves, but they produce fewer and fewer vegetables until they no longer produce anything. At this time I pull them up and put them in a pile to be burned or thrown away with the trash.
Matthew uses the winnowing shovel, threshing floor, wheat, and chaff to paint a very vivid picture of Judgment day when Christ will judge everyone and will gather His children (those who have believed and accepted Him as Lord and Savior) to come into His kingdom and will discard those who are unrepentant and unworthy to do God’s work. Those who are discarded will be burned with an everlasting fire that will never end.
Challenge: Are you ready for Judgment Day? If not, it is as simple as A-B-C to know Christ as your personal Lord. A – Admit you are a sinner. B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, He lived a perfect life, died on the cross, was buried, and raised from the dead and lives today. C – Confess Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Do not be part of the chaff that will be burned in the everlasting fire. God wants you in His kingdom and is preparing a place for you.