Daily Devotion

10th April – What has straw in common with wheat? 

Audio

Prepare

Today is Thursday, 10th of April. We are in the thirty seventh day of Lent. Take a slow breath. Keep still for a moment before his presence.

We begin with the collect for Ash Wednesday:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our brokenness, 
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; 
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, 
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalm

We listen to the words of Psalm 125:

¹ Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
² As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people,
    from this time forth and forevermore.
³ For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
    on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
    their hands to do wrong.
⁴ Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
    and to those who are upright in their hearts!
⁵ But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
    the Lord will lead away with evildoers!
    Peace be upon Israel!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

The Old Testament Reading appointed for today is Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 9 to 32. Here we read verses 25 to 29:

²⁵ I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’²⁶ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹ Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Reflection

The 23rd chapter of Jeremiah starts with a stern warning: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”

Consistently, God seeks to gather His people. For we have a tendency to “scatter.” As Isaiah said in 53:6, “we like sheep have gone astray.” In Luke 13, Jesus made this motherly lament, “O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Again and again, we are told that God seeks to gather and bring us home from our lost condition. The true prophets of God will do likewise.

The indictment of false prophets is that they are doing the reverse. They are “scattering the scattered.” [On another occasion, Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” (Luke 17)]

There are many voices that are constantly competing for our attention and affection. Unfortunately, the most deceptive ones may be those that sounds like it is biblical. Recall Satan’s use of Scripture texts to tempt Jesus. Sometimes we can be sincere in holding to some wrong beliefs and in so doing , influence our loved ones and friends. But what if they “prophesy from the deceit of their own hearts”, as pointed out in verse 26?

Wrong misguided teachings or ideas may be sincerely or deceitfully shared. Either way, they are not God’s truth.

Jeremiah asked: “What has straw in common with wheat?”

Straw comes from the dry stalk after the wheat is harvested. Wheat is the grain of seed. Though they come from the same plant, they look very different. And their worth is very different.

Are we able to discern the truth? Will we be responsible with how we may be influencing others? Are we saying things that will “gather them” to the Lord or “scatter them” away from Him?

Let’s ask the Lord to help us, that we may offer wheat – not straw – to those we have influence over.

Collect
To the Shepherd of our Souls,
Who always show us the true path to walk in,
Help us likewise to always lead others to it,
To have the wisdom to discern truth from error,
And to guard our hearts from deceitfulness,
That we may bring your Light to those around us,
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Link to today’s Morning Office