Matthew – God’s Purposes
People who know me well know that I love to make bread. I am without a mixer here in Bolivia, but I still make a couple of loaves of bread by mixing it by hand, kneading it with my palms then setting it aside, watching it rise until I can bake it. The whole process is good therapy for my soul somehow. I can’t explain it. I do know that just the science alone, watching how a small amount of yeast makes the lifeless dough come alive and rise is fascinating to me.
What I have learned…If the yeast is not right, the dough will not rise and it will not taste wonderful and pleasing. It will remain flat, hard and crusty. The yeast must be fresh. The warm water you mix the yeast in before putting it in the dough can not be too hot or you kill the yeast and it will not do what it is supposed to do. All conditions must be right in order to permeate the dough and rise to the desired height to bake delicious, aroma pleasing, bread of beauty!
Matthew 13, NLT
Parable of the Yeast33 Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
34 Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 35 This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet:
“I will speak to you in parables.
I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.”
QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT:
Jesus used the yeast illustration in two ways. Yeast does permeate the dough. Believers can affect society by permeating it with God’s Word, living lives that reflect His glory, rising above the mediocrity of this life to greater, higher standards of living which is more pleasing to God. We rise above the standards of this world by bearing the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit that lives within us permeating every part of our being. We permeate society by helping others find and follow Jesus, too! It’s not about us but all about the love of God in us.OR we can be like the Pharisees who permeated society with all that goes against God’s teaching, adding man made rules and regulations making it impossible to come to know God and follow Him. Bad teaching, like bad yeast, yields unsavory bread for life.
How am I affecting society with my life? Is the “Kingdom of Heaven” in me affecting people around me?How is the church I’m attending affecting society? Good yeast or bad yeast? Are we guided by the Kingdom of Heaven living in us? The yeast is the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus tells us. Are we permeating society or is society permeating us?
Are we just making bread for our church family?
Are our rules too tough for others to come to know Jesus?
Oh, Lord, we must come to You, listen to You, follow You and help others do the same with all the love of God in us.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us to know You better each day. Transform our lives. Help us to be yeast that permeates our lives and rises to every occasion and opportunity to tell Your story of salvation. Thank you, Lord for saving my soul.
In Jesus Name, Amen
