Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
Have you ever forgotten about something and then remembered about it after it’s too late? Well something like that happened to me not long ago. It was baking day and I wanted to make sweet rolls. I mixed all of the flour and oil and water and yeast and all the other ingredients together until it was a soft ball of dough. When it was all mixed together I picked out a bowl that was about three times as big as the dough and set the dough in the bottom of it. Then I put the bowl with the dough into the warm oven to let it rise.
A while later, I realize that I had forgotten to check the dough to see if it was ready to form into rolls and bake. When I opened the oven door, I stared at what I saw. It was almost as if the dough had turned into its own little monster. It had risen so much that it was dripping over the edge of the bowl and all over the floor of the oven.
That’s what yeast does when it’s put into dough. It may start out as small and insignificant compared to the amount of flour and other ingredients that are added, but it’s the ingredient that makes the dough grow and become light and fluffy bread.
And that’s very much like the growth that happens when a little bit of God’s love comes in touch with a person. It just starts to grow so it overflows!
In the New Testament yeast isn’t just used to signify the growth of good things. It also is used to demonstrate how bad things can grow. Paul talks about this in Galatians. He says, “A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good. At the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Gal 6:7-9.
Think about your life alongside the growth of yeast. What little bad things could grow into being big overwhelming bad things? And likewise, what little good things could grow into being big amazing good things? Why don’t you try doing one good thing this week and see how it grows?
- Pastor Kristen