Two Ways, Part 2

 ¹ How happy is the man 
who does not follow the advice of the wicked 
or take the path of sinners 
or join a group of mockers! 
² Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, 
and he meditates on it day and night. 
³ He is like a tree planted beside streams of water 
that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. 
Whatever he does prospers.

 ⁴ The wicked are not like this;
instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment,
and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.

 ⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

-Psalm 1 (HCSB)

Yesterday, we looked at verses 1-3 of this Psalm where we discovered what we must do and must not do to live the successful Christian life. You can read that post here. Today, we're going to look at the rest of the Psalm, and see what will happen on the flip side, to those who don't come to the Lord for salvation.

Verse 4 says, "The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away." The Psalmist says that the wicked are not like the well watered tree in verse 3. Instead, they are like chaff. What is chaff? It is defined as: "the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed in threshing grain, something comparatively worthless."* Chaff is what is left over after you separate the seeds from the pods. Think of it like this, when you eat peanuts, you crack the shell to get the peanut. The resulting empty shell would be the chaff. Notice the second part of that definition: "something comparatively worthless." Using the peanut example, the peanut inside the shell is what you're after, compared to the peanut, the shell is worthless. You don't eat the shell, you eat the peanut, so the shell is discarded into the trashcan. We read in Matthew 7:11-12, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² 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.” This is John the Baptist speaking about Jesus, but what I want you to focus on in verse 12. "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." A winnowing shovel was a tool that had forks on the end, the farmer would pile his wheat on the threshing floor, stick the winnowing shovel into it and toss the wheat into the air. That would separate the wheat kernels and the chaff. After the separation was complete, the wheat would be gathered into the barn, but the chaff would be burned or discarded. The picture that John the Baptist was painting in verse 12 is one of the Judgement. The wheat represents those who belong to Christ, while the chaff represents those who have rejected Him, and will be cast into the fire. 

That separation at the Judgement is the idea behind verse 5, of Psalm 1. "Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous." Just like the chaff doesn't go into the storehouses with the wheat, the people who reject Jesus will not join those who have accepted Jesus in Heaven. There will be a separation. Those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord will be taken to Heaven, those who rejected Jesus will be sent to Hell. Read more about this in Matthew 25:31-46. Finally, in verse 6 we read, "For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin." As Christians, we must follow the leading of God on our lives. We must follow in the paths that He has set out for us. This way, we'll be able to stay away from the evil lifestyles shown in verse 1. We'll stay on course, growing in our life in Christ. The wicked, on the other hand, cares only for themselves, their wants, their desires. That kind of lifestyle leads to ruin, and that ruin is called eternity in Hell. Hell is real, and Hell is not where you want to go. Are you on that path that leads to Hell? Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord? Think About It. 

*source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chaff