My Barn “Gather the wheat into my barn” – Matthew 13:30
Many of you who know me are aware that 2014 was the most challenging of my life, and if you would have told me back then that I’d still be standing today, I may not have believed you. The struggle to get a diagnosis and to deal with the “burning” from my primary stroke left me longing to be with the Lord.
Only God’s Word has brought me more comfort to my soul than Charles Spurgeon’s amazing book, “Beside Still Waters.” Spurgeon had a God given ability to take a single verse of Scripture, and through the use of metaphors and illustrations to bring comfort to the soul during days of trial and adversity. Our one minute devotion today, “My Barn" is one of these. Powerful words in three paragraphs. I’ve asked Cynthia to read these words at my memorial service. Be blessed.
Gathering wheat is a moment-by-moment process, as the saints are gathered into the Heavenly barn. One a regular basis I hear that the departed ones from my own dear church have great joy in being harvested. Glory be to God, for our people die well. Now the best thing is to live well, but we are delighted that our people die well, because a triumphant death is a witness for vital godliness. Every hour saints are gathered into the barn and that is where they want to be. We feel no pain at the news of their harvest because we wish that one day our Lord would safely place us in His barn. If the wheat in the field could talk, every stalk would say, “The ultimate reason for living and growing is to be gathered into the barn.” This is why we have frosty nights, sunny days, dew and rain.
Every process in raising wheat leads to the barn. The wheat is placed in the barn for security; there is no mildew, frost heat, drought, or dampness there. Once in the barn, perils surrounding growth are past. The wheat has reached perfection and is safely housed. I delight to think of Heaven as the Father’s barn because it is the place of security, the place of everlasting rest, and the homestead of Christ, the place to which we will be carried. The gathering into the barn involves having a harvest home, a time of ecstatic joy. I never hear of people sitting down to cry over an earthly home; rather, they clap their hands, dance for joy, and shout energetically. Let us do something like that concerning those who are already housed. Let us sing sweet melodies around their graves and feel that the bitterness of death is surely passed. From Beside Still Waters: By Charles Spurgeon - Page 195
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