Straw like Grain
“Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the LORD . “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD , “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:28-29 )
Hats, baskets, mats, roughage, thatching, paper; straw has a lot of uses. But it is not as beneficial to life as grain. And dreams have their place too, but are harder to interpret than the clearly spoken word. So I can see where one would be preferable from the other, and that separating straw from grain and dreams from truth were be an important thing. But grain comes from the tops of straw, and truth can be discerned from dreams. It is the wise person who discerns what is most important in life, and separates the important from the unimportant.
The Anabaptists separated themselves from those churches, congregations, and church leaders that did not emphasis and cling to the important aspects of the Christian life. Or did not flee from that which was sin. Paul Glock reports on one of the conversations he had with his accuser in prison,
“The first priest began to complain against us, again, asking why we did not go to their preaching, teaching, churches and to their assemblies, and why we so despised them.
Answer: Your teaching, preaching church and assembly is a mob and an assembly of fornicators, adulterers, liars, blasphemers, drunkards, proud, usurers, and all unclean spirits in whom the devil has and does his work, Eph. 2:2; Acts 18:2. There is no true and proper divine service among you, but rather blasphemy and shame before the face of the Almighty. Because of this we are moved to flee and avoid this godless assembly of yours, Jer. 23:29.”
To be quite honest, I think I would be a little put out if someone described my church and faith like Paul did when talking to the priest. One the other hand, if I knew of a church like Paul described, I would probably flee from it also.
May you assign the straw and the grain, the dreams and the truth, to their proper place in your life. Selah!
