Psalms 1:4 - “They Are Like Chaff.”

If you were to ask most people what chaff is, you’d get a blank stare and a confused look. Most people have never experienced the act of winnowing.

Winnowing is the process of separating good grain from the fragile husk that surrounds it. When grain is gathered from the fields, it is encased by a thin, dry “skin.” To get to the good and nutritious grain, the dry and worthless rubble has to be  removed. The grain is tossed into the air and the wind does the work. The dry, worthless chaff is so brittle and unsubstantial that even the slightest of breezes will blow it away like dust in the wind.

The point of the analogy is this: the wicked have no substance to them. The are always present and always a problem but they have no value and no staying power. At the slightest gust of wind, they break up and float away, disappearing into the distance.

Hosea 13:3

“Therefore they will be like the morning cloud and like dew which soon disappears. Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney.”

That is the spiritual reality of our lives. All that we do on this earth has no lasting value or meaning unless it is for God’s glory. All of our wicked pursuits and pleasures will turn to dust one day when the winnowing process begins.

How does that process happen? Tomorrow we will learn about the winnowing fork of God.