Sept 29th- Plow and Thresh in Hope

1 Corinthians 9:10

"...For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope."


Let's look at two words: plow and thresheth.

Plow: to turn up the soil; move, cleave, or push through
Plowing is an important process to farming or growing a garden. Proper preparation of the soil is the key to well-formed vegetables and a bountiful harvest.
Plowing enables gardeners to evenly rake or shape the soil; it also makes the planting process easier. When you plow length-wise and width-wise over the area it evenly distributes the nutrients.

Thresh: an ancient process to separate grain from straw
After being harvested, the sheaves of wheat with the chaff, were brought to the threshing floor, loosened and arranged in a circle on it. Oxen would then be driven repeatedly in a circle over the sheaves of wheat to trample out the kernals of wheat. After the threshing was completed, the threshed grain was thrown into the air to enable the wind to blow away the chaff and allow the valuable grain to fall seperately to the threshing floor.

This scripture is talking not literally about us going out and plowing and threshing, but spiritually in our own lives. I won't get too deep in the symbolism, but I would like to say that threshing in our lives in necessary for us to draw closer to God and to spiritually mature.
Chaff is not good. It takes heavy oxen to be able to separate the wheat from it. So too is it sometimes painful to have the chaff separted from us.
If we decide to plow (it is a choice!) we should plow in hope.
If we thresh in hope, we are promised to be a partaker of his hope.

James E. Faust said that "hope is a trust in God's promises; faith that if we act now, the desired blessing will be fullfilled in the future..."