JESUS SPEAKING
“To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” (Luke 13: 20-21.)
INSPIRED THOUGHTS
What is leaven? Leaven is a microscopic organism, sometimes known as yeast. The yeast produces small bubbles of carbon dioxide, which are kneaded through a measure of dough. When the bread is cooked the micro-organisms are killed, causing the gas bubbles to expand and give the bread its size and soft feel (unleavened bread remains hard and flat.) Cooking bread without using a leavening agent wasn’t uncommon in the first century, especially among the Jews who were forbidden to eat leavened bread during the Passover week. So according to Jesus, what do leaven, and the Kingdom of God have in common? The kingdom of God is something that is hidden away inside of a person’s heart, just as leaven is hidden away and cannot be seen in an unheated loaf of bread. A tiny bit of leaven will eventually move through an entire loaf until its completely saturated. Similarly, the kingdom of God often has a small beginning in the heart of every believer; just a little bit of God’s kingdom is enough to eventually saturate the entire heart and life of the person who receives it.
Today, millions of people around the world use I-phones; many also own Apple Computers. Given its size, it wouldn’t be difficult to envision that this company was born in some huge office building somewhere, backed by a handful of the most powerful investors on the planet. We might even think there was a national advertising campaign and literary buzz surrounding the start of Apple Computers. Although this would be easy to imagine, it would also be incorrect. Apple Computers was started by two teenagers in a garage (Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs.) Steve’s dad had to clear out the garage, so the boys had enough room to begin manufacturing their first personal computers. Something that two adolescents began in a home, today spans the entire globe and affects the lives of millions of people.
Often our understanding of faith is skewed. We believe that strong faith in the Lord is something that a person just has, and there is no way acquire it. This is an unfortunate belief. Faith is not necessarily something that explodes immediately in a person’s life (it can, but not always.) Faith in Christ can have meager beginnings from which it may grow to affect every area of the believer’s life. Someone may start by professing a faith in Christ during a bible study, and before they know it, they’ve begun to pray, to serve, and to spread the message. Eventually a person’s love life, business life, personal life, recreational life, and every other area of their life may be taken over by the Spirit of God. The Lord wants every area of our lives. This truth can be a scary prospect for a lot of people, and this is why many often harden their hearts and refuse to receive the gospel. Those who do allow the kingdom of God into their hearts are transformed from the inside out. Allow God to change you; allow Him to fill every area of your life, and you will know peace, and you will know God. The areas we hold back from God, are the areas which cause us the most pain; so, let Him invade the areas you struggle with, and you will suffer no longer.
“Lord Heavenly Father, You are an awesome and amazing God. We come before You today and we pray that You would continue to grow within us; fill up our hearts and lives completely Lord. We ask You now to grow, and to enter into the areas that we are holding back from You. Lord give us more of Your Spirit, more of Your Truth, and increase our faith. Consume our hearts, our minds, and our lives by the power of Your Holy Spirit. We love You Lord, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, according to Your will, in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.” God bless all of you!
Jesus Speaks 